The White House on Wednesday condemned Democrats for what it called a “selective and bad-faith” release of Jeffrey Epstein–related documents after newly surfaced emails revealed that journalist Michael Wolff privately advised Epstein in 2016 to attack Donald Trump for “political cover.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the document release as a distraction from Democrats’ handling of the recent shutdown and accused them of fabricating a smear against Trump. Leavitt also identified the “unnamed victim” in Epstein’s earlier correspondence as Virginia Giuffre, who has stated Trump was never involved in wrongdoing. She added that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago decades ago and accused Democrats of attempting to “rewrite history.”

House Republicans echoed the criticism, accusing Democrats of cherry-picking files to generate headlines while withholding documents that implicate Democratic officials. The controversy escalated when Democrats released a new batch of documents from the bipartisan Epstein investigation, including 2016 email exchanges between Epstein and Wolff, the author of the anti-Trump books Fire and Fury and Siege. The emails show Wolff advising Epstein to use anti-Trump messaging to rehabilitate his image amid mounting scrutiny over his criminal past. Wolff suggested that positioning himself as an anti-Trump voice could offer “political cover,” predicting the 2016 election climate would intensify attention on Epstein’s associations.

Wolff also advised Epstein on how to handle questions about Trump and sought Epstein’s help connecting with figures like Tom Barrack and Kathy Ruemmler for book research. Their correspondence continued until May 2019, shortly before Epstein’s arrest and subsequent death that August. Democrats, led by Rep. Robert Garcia, argued the disclosures underscore the need for full release of all Epstein files and accused Trump of concealing information. The House is preparing to vote on a discharge petition to force the DOJ to release the complete records, expected to advance once Rep. Adelita Grijalva signs on.