White House Pushes Back on Epstein Allegations

The emails, reportedly shared with congressional investigators earlier this week, include a message in which Epstein allegedly told longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours” at his home with one of Epstein’s victims.

The White House strongly denied the implications of the exchange. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the emails were being mischaracterized and that there was no evidence of misconduct by the president.

“These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” Leavitt said in a statement.
“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” she added. “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments.”

The administration emphasized that Trump neither sent nor received any of the emails and has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

House to Vote on Full Release of Epstein Files

Earlier in the day, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that lawmakers will vote next week on a measure requiring the Justice Department to release all files connected to Epstein’s case.

The announcement came hours after Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was sworn in to Congress and became one of the first to sign a discharge petition pushing the resolution to the floor for a vote.

“The American people deserve transparency,” Johnson said. “This is a matter of public trust.”

Shutdown Officially Ends

The controversy unfolded as Trump finalized a long-awaited continuing resolution to reopen the federal government after several weeks of closure. The measure, passed by both chambers earlier this week, restores funding for federal agencies and guarantees partial back pay for affected workers.

In brief remarks before signing the bill, Trump avoided taking questions about the Epstein matter, focusing instead on what he called a “commonsense victory for the American people.”

“This agreement gets our government back to work and protects taxpayers,” the president said before leaving the East Room without responding to reporters.

Political Reactions

Democrats accused the White House of attempting to dismiss serious allegations by labeling them partisan attacks, while Republicans defended the president’s handling of the situation and framed the leaks as politically motivated.

Analysts noted that the twin developments — the shutdown resolution and the Epstein file leaks — could define the tone of Washington debates heading into the next legislative session.