Jeffrey Epstein’s emails reveal a disdain for morality among the elite

‘Their continued friendliness with him suggests a kind of blithe tolerance of his presence in their midst.’ Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

Before he died, Jeffrey Epstein made it clear that Donald Trump “knew about the girls”.

Trump has denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s longstanding child sex-trafficking operation. But in newly released emails that members of Congress disclosed to the media amid the end of this fall’s government shutdown, the dead child sex trafficker and financier can be seen corresponding on many occasions about Donald Trump, his former close friend and associate, throughout the last few years of his life, as Trump’s rise to prominence in national politics beginning in 2015 drew renewed attention to his relationship with Epstein.