Key points: CNN’s Alisyn Camerota pressed Rep. Carlos Giménez about newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails that mention Donald Trump, including a 2011 message saying Trump “spent hours” at Epstein’s home with a redacted individual identified by some Republicans as Virginia Giuffre. Giménez said the emails do not currently raise concerns and reiterated a claim attributed to Giuffre that Trump did nothing wrong. He expressed support for releasing any documents the courts permit, while noting legal and privacy limits, and argued the Biden administration would have disclosed any files implicating the president.
CNN Confronts GOP Rep. Over Epstein Emails Mentioning Trump: “Don’t They Raise Concerns?”
CNN Presses Rep. Carlos Giménez on Newly Released Epstein Emails
Representative Carlos Giménez (R-FL) told CNN he was not troubled by a batch of recently released Jeffrey Epstein emails that contain references to former President Donald Trump, including a 2011 note that said, “I know how dirty Donald is.” Anchor Alisyn Camerota Keilar pushed Giménez on whether those messages should prompt questions about Trump.
Keilar: “Those emails that were released, you don’t think raises any questions?”
Keilar pointed to a 2011 email from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell that said Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a person whose name was redacted — a person Republicans have identified as Virginia Giuffre. Giménez replied, “Not right now, no,” and reiterated a claim attributed to Giuffre in the interview: “And she has said that any time that she spent with him he did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Earlier in the interview, Keilar asked about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) plan to hold a vote next week on forcing the release of the full Epstein files. Keilar asked whether Giménez would support a vote to compel the Department of Justice to make all records public.
Giménez: “I have no problem in releasing the files that they have. I know that they’ve also run into the court system — some of the files they can’t release because then it would put in jeopardy the names of a lot of the victims, and they want their privacy.”
Giménez said he supports disclosure of any documents that the court system permits and criticized what he described as periodic, piecemeal releases of material. He also suggested that if any documents implicated President Trump, the previous Democratic administration would already have made that information public while it controlled the records.
Keilar pressed Giménez on why he believed the White House might be resisting disclosure. Giménez responded that he did not know the reason for any legal fights over sealing but said the public deserves the truth. He reiterated his confidence that the president is not implicated and repeated his view that any such evidence would have been revealed earlier.
Context: Many of the documents connected to Epstein’s network have been subject to court restrictions to protect victim identities and ongoing legal matters. The debate over releasing additional records has become politically charged, with lawmakers on both sides calling for transparency while also acknowledging privacy and legal constraints.
Watch the clip on CNN for the full exchange.
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