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Newly released records from the House Oversight Committee show Jeffrey Epstein pitching himself as a Donald Trump insider and cultivating influence among world leaders and diplomats even after his conviction as a sex offender, per ABC News.
The emails, many of which were written during Trump's first term, reveal Epstein offered guidance on everything from U.S. Cabinet appointments to international finance schemes during conversations with top diplomats.
In a June 2018 exchange with Thørbjorn Jagland, then-Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Epstein urged him to steer Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in his direction to learn more about Trump's mindset.
“I think you might suggest to putin, that lavrov, can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote, claiming that the late UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin had once relied on him to understand Trump.
“Churkin was great,” Epstein said. “He understood trump after our conversations… he must be seen to get something. its that simple.”
Epstein also offered personal guidance to former Maldives President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, warning him away from what he called a “scam” involving a $4 billion anonymous deposit proposal. Hassan’s email closed with the tag “Sent from President’s iPad.”
The emails also include messages from 2017 when a redacted correspondent sought Epstein’s advice before attending Washington’s elite Alfalfa Dinner and meeting Jared Kushner. Epstein brushed off Kushner’s influence, telling the correspondent: “Ask him if he will see tom barrack, thats the most important.”
Epstein also maintained regular contact with Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon. In late 2018, Epstein weighed in on Trump’s Cabinet, describing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as “ok” and arguing that removing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was “much more important than syria /mattis.” He dismissed Kushner and Ivanka Trump, writing: “jared and ivanka, need to go. !!!”
In another exchange, after Bannon forwarded a German media story calling him “dangerous,” Epstein responded enthusiastically, saying, “Luv it.”
The emails portray Epstein as deeply embedded in political and diplomatic circles years after his 2008 sex-crime conviction. Just months before his 2019 arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges, Epstein appeared to be leveraging old connections and pitching himself as someone with unique insight into Trump’s thinking.
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