STORY: The White House accused Democrats in the House of Representatives of releasing emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday (November 12) to smear President Donald Trump.

"The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

House Democrats on Wednesday released emails which they said raised new questions about President Donald Trump's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and how much he knew about his abuse of underage girls -- an assertion the White House blasted as a "fake narrative."

The Democrats cite exchanges between Epstein and author Michael Wolff and Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who is serving a 20-year prison sentence on charges related to her role in facilitating Epstein's crimes. In one 2019 email to Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump "knew about the girls," though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

The release came on the day a new Democratic member is scheduled to be sworn into the House, a move expected to be a tipping point in a campaign to force a vote on releasing all non-classified files related to Epstein, reigniting interest in a case that has been a major political headache for Trump.

The batch of emails includes a 2011 message to Maxwell in which Epstein described Trump as "that dog that hasn't barked," adding that Trump had "spent hours at my house" with one of his victims, whose name is redacted.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, WALKING UP TO LECTERN

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, IN EXCHANGE WITH JOURNALISTS

JOURNALIST ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "Did the President ever spend hours at Jeffrey Epstein's house with a victim?"

LEAVITT: "These emails prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong. And what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Mar a Lago until President Trump kicked him out, because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and he was a creep. And this email you refer to, with the name of a victim that was unredacted now and has since been reported on in this room, so I will go ahead and say it, 'Virginia Giuffre.' And it was CBS's own reporting that recently wrote that Ms. Giuffre maintained, and God rest her soul, that she maintained that there was nothing inappropriate she ever witnessed, that President Trump was always extremely professional and friendly to her. And so I think it's a question worth asking the Democrat Party, and you should all go ask them after this briefing, of why they chose to redact that name of a victim who has already publicly made statements about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and is unfortunately no longer with us."

JOURNALIST ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "Two questions on this. In the interest of transparency, why not just go ahead, release the full files on Epstein, get this all over with?"

LEAVITT: "We have, this administration has done more with respect to transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein than any administration, ever. In fact, this administration, the Department of Justice, has turned over tens of thousands of documents to the American people. We are cooperating and showing support for the House Oversight Committee. That's part of the reason you are seeing these documents that were released today because of the House Oversight Committee and Republicans' efforts to get these out to the public. This administration also moved the Department of Justice; also moved to unseal grand jury testimony, which we know, unfortunately, a judge declined those requests. So this administration has done more than any and it just shows how this is truly a manufactured hoax by the Democrat Party for, now they're talking about it all of a sudden because President Trump is in the Oval Office. But when Joe Biden was sitting in there, the Democrats never brought this up. This wasn't an issue that they cared about. Because they actually don't care about the victims in these cases. They care about trying to score political points against President Trump, as we have, of course, seen with this government shutdown and this entire thing. Again, it's not a coincidence to the American people at home. There are no coincidences in Washington, D.C. and it is not a coincidence that the Democrats leaked these emails to the fake news this morning ahead of Republicans reopening the government. This is another distraction campaign by the Democrat and the liberal media, and it's why I'm being asked questions about Epstein instead of the government reopening because of Republicans and President Trump."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, IN EXCHANGE WITH JOURNALISTS

JOURNALIST ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "Some Democratic members of Congress have invited Britain's former Prince Andrew to testify on the Epstein scandal. Just wondering if President Trump thinks that former Prince Andrew should indeed come and testify to Congress on that?"

LEAVITT: "I haven't spoken to him about that specific matter, but I can ask him and get back to you."

5. WHITE FLASH

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, IN EXCHANGE WITH JOURNALISTS

JOURNALIST ASKING (OFF CAMERA): "Is the president considering a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell?"

LEAVITT: "Again, he's answered this repeatedly. It's not something he's talking about or even thinking about at this moment in time. I can assure you of that."

6. WHITE FLASH

7. LEAVITT LEAVING LECTERN