Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York

It's been an eventful two days after a new crop of documents from Jeffrey Epstein's estate were revealed to contain several messages referencing US President Donald Trump.

More Republican and Democratic lawmakers are now calling for the full release of the so-called Epstein files.

Here's what's been going on:

• More than 20,000 files from the late paedophile financier's estate were released yesterday by US lawmakers. Several mention Trump
• Trump has called them a "hoax" in a post on social media

• Epstein said about Trump in 2018: "I am the one able to take him down" and "I know how dirty donald is"
• Epstein wrote to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011: "I want you to realize that that the dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him"
• The White House tells the BBC "these emails prove literally nothing"

• The files also contain Epstein's exchanges with other high-profile figures, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and former Trump US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers
• Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on whether the justice department should be forced to release all of the Epstein files

We're closing this live page shortly, but you can read our story on the events of the last two days here.

Image source, EPA

The press haven't heard much from President Donald Trump since yesterday.

Just now, the president signed an executive order in the East Room of the White House to a room full of cameras and reporters. He didn't take any questions after speaking, which is not entirely unusual for speeches in that particular room.

He also avoided questions last night, when he signed a bill ending the US government shutdown. Press were ushered out of the Oval Office just after the president spoke, which is unusual for a bill signing like this. Especially one that Trump considers a major win.

The president's social media has been quiet today as well. Yesterday, he shared two messages about the Epstein document release, calling it a "hoax" by Democrats. He has not publicly commented on the topic since then.

Image source, Reuters

The House of Representatives will vote next week on a bill known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The aim of the bill is to make the justice department release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials linked to Jeffrey Epstein.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters a vote would take place next week, [as] soon as we get back", following the vote to the US government shutdown on Wednesday night.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva's swearing in to Congress on Wednesday triggered the vote, as the Arizona congresswoman immediately signed a discharge petition calling for the release of the Epstein case files.

Hers was the 218th and final signature needed to trigger a floor vote.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York

Image source, Getty Images

Last night, a petition in the House of Representatives to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files reached the required threshold to move forward.

A discharge petition is designed to allow lawmakers to sidestep leadership and force a bill to the House floor. In this case, that bill would be the release of the Epstein files.

Discharge petitions are fairly complicated and hard to execute successfully. First, they require 218 lawmakers to sign on.

That threshold has just been reached, with newest Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva signing on as her first act. Now, there's a ticking clock for the bill to come to a vote. That could happen as early as next week, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

If the bill passes the House, it will move on to the Senate. Republican senators haven't said much yet on where they stand and it requires 60 votes to pass the upper chamber - a high threshold.

Republican Thomas Massie, one of the architects of the bipartisan discharge petition, told Politico that he thinks other Republicans will support the measure when it hits the floor.

“I’m certain the House vote will succeed,” he said.

Image source, Reuters

Annie Farmer, one of Epstein's accusers and a key witness in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial, shared a statement after the emails were released, saying that the more information that comes out, the more questions arise.

"Survivors deserve more than a trickle of information," she says.

Farmer demanded the "full release" of the so-called Epstein files and said "the estimated one thousand women and girls who were harmed by Epstein and his associates deserve full transparency".

Liz Stein, who sued Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, told MSNBC: “It’s clear that this administration has an issue with this information being released."

Haley Robson, another one of Epstein’s accusers, told CNN that survivors have to “relive” their memories each time a portion of the documents are released - and that "transparency" is key as not releasing the documents makes it "obvious that they're hiding something".

Naomi Lim, a White House reporter at the Washington Examiner, tells the BBC that the current controversy over the Epstein files is one of Trump's own making.

Lim says it's members of Trump's own Maga base who have been pushing for the release of these files and it's not known why the administration is going to such "extraordinary lengths" to prevent that.

She adds that the lack of transparency "really grinds people" and the apparent pressure being applied to Republican's such as Lauren Boebert "is actually making it a bigger story."

Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who co-sponsored the petition for the justice department to release all Epstein files, has previously said releasing the files isn't about attacking Trump, but about transparency.

"Here we have Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, Thomas Massie," Khanna told the Washingtonian earlier this month, speaking of Republicans who support the release of the files.

"It’s a broad coalition. That’s why this is working with some MAGA voters, because they’re saying, 'Okay, he’s not doing this just to score points, he’s doing this to root out corruption in government.'"

Khanna told the outlet he wants Americans to know that the government doesn't have "different rules for the rich and powerful".

"So Epstein, to me, is about showing the American people that the government can be trusted, that we’re on their side."

Image source, Reuters

The author Michael Wolff - who featured in two of the email exchanges initially published by Democrats on the Oversight Committee - has been speaking to US outlet the Daily Beast.

Wolff says the Oversight Committee is "just releasing whatever they can get" but that he thinks "this is all signs of an investigation closing in on its subject".

"I’m not sure they realise sometimes that the subject is not so much Jeffrey Epstein, but Donald Trump," Wolff adds.

He also says that Donald Trump has "clearly been trying to pardon" Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking girls to Epstein.

"If he breaks his deal with Ghislaine, she will talk. And her method of talking is a method of leaks, which – as the birthday letter was – could be damaging to Donald Trump," Wolff tells the Daily Beast.

In response to Wolff's latest remarks, White House Director Steven Cheung used an expletive when describing Wolff as a liar and "proven to be a fraud".

"He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.”

One email exchange in the latest release of documents from the House Oversight Committee appears to show Epstein's correspondence with former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in October 2017.

Summers emails Epstein that he is "flying back" and asks him, "How is life among the lucrative and louche?"

Epstein emails back, "when we meet I will endeavor to mesmerize you with stores of D.C. so wild. !!!" he adds.

In one email, Summers gives Epstein his opinion of Trump early in his presidency, writing: "DJT is world s luckiest guy in terms of opposition, economy etc. still think his world will collapse".

A spokesperson for Summers said they did not have a comment on the record, but referred the BBC to past statements by Summers.

A representative for Summers told the Wall Street Journal in 2023 that the former treasury official "deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction".

Just joining us? Let's get you up to speed on the detail of the latest documents released relating to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

• On Wednesday, US lawmakers released more than 20,000 pages of documents from the estate of Epstein, including some that mention US President Donald Trump
• The documents, which the BBC has not independently verified, show a message from Epstein in 2018 about Trump: "I knowhow dirty donald is" and "I am the one able to take him down"
• White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson tells the BBC "these emails prove literally nothing"
• The House of Representatives will vote next week on whether the justice department should release all of the Epstein files
• Congressman Thomas Massie said yesterday a few Republicans told his office privately they're going to vote in favour, with Massie saying, "I think that could snowball"

Image source, Getty Images

Veteran Republican congressman Pete Sessions says the House Oversight Committee is searching for Donald Trump’s name in the released Epstein files.

He tells CNN: "We are trying to meticulously, on a bipartisan basis, go through these and find the things that you wish to find, is what is going on now.

"And that is the name of Donald J. Trump."

He added that this "treasure trove of information" was key to answering the "incredible numbers of questions" that still remain.

It comes as James Marsh, a lawyer representing victims of Epstein, says his clients are feeling "betrayed" by the White House's response to the documents' release. The White House has said "these emails prove literally nothing".

"Any time where there's widespread sexual abuse of children, we have this institutional betrayal... this is nothing new."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Much of the debate on Capitol Hill has centred on a "discharge petition" - a little-known procedural tactic that could, in theory, force the justice department to release the Epstein files.

Normally, new pieces of legislation are sent to a majority-controlled House committee. Bills opposed by the majority - in this case, the Republicans - do not move forward.

A discharge petition, however, removes a bill from the committee and forces a vote.

Here, the effort would force a vote on a bill requiring the justice department to release - within 30 days - any materials related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has strongly opposed the bill and repeatedly argued for a separate investigation.

Trump also warned Republicans against falling for the "Epstein Hoax".

Now, Johnson says he will bring the vote to the floor if it has majority support.

Even if it passes in the House, it faces an uphill battle.

It would then go to the Senate, which does not have to take up the bill and would require 60 votes - meaning at least 13 Republicans would need to oppose Trump and vote in favour.

Although there are hopes that the House could push the Department of Justice to release all the Epstein files, the vote next week is "largely symbolic", says Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett.

If the vote gets a majority in the House, it then goes to the Senate, and finally needs President Trump's signature of approval, Bartlett tells the BBC News channel.

It's "unclear" if it'll get through these stages - particularly whether Trump will sign the bill, he says.

Image source, EPA

Thousands of pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released, but there are still more that have not.

There's been a lot of debate over whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) files include a list of Epstein's clients.

Back in February, when Fox News asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if the DOJ would be releasing Epstein's client list, Bondi replied: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."

But by July, the DOJ said a client list does not exist, and Bondi clarified that in her Fox News interview she meant the files were sitting on her desk for review, not a client list specifically.

Image source, US Department of Justice/Press Association

The newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein appear to confirm that a photograph showing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre is genuine, contradicting the former prince's suggestion that the image may have been doctored.

An email sent from Epstein, who is alleged to have taken the picture, to a journalist in 2011 reads: "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."

Andrew told BBC Newsnight in 2019: "It didn't happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever."

When pressed in the interview about the photograph he said: "The photograph is taken upstairs and I don't think I ever went upstairs in Ghislaine's house... I'm at a loss to explain this particular photograph. If the original was ever produced, then perhaps we might be able to solve it but I can't."

Giuffre alleged Andrew had sex with her three times as a teenager. Andrew, who has denied the allegations, reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 2022 which contained no admission of liability or apology.

• Our correspondent and investigation team have more on those emails

Update 18 December: This post was updated to include a further quote from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019 in which he refers specifically to the photograph of him with Virginia Giuffre

Jude Sheerin
Live reporter

The Epstein files released by the House on Wednesday show the financier claiming more than once that he has damaging or politically embarrassing information about Trump, without ever apparently revealing much.

In December 2015, as Trump’s first White House campaign was gathering momentum, a New York Times reporter contacted Epstein.

The journalist mentioned there was widespread interest in potential "juicy info on you and Trump".

Epstein asked the reporter: "Would you like photso [sic] of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen."

But the reporter, who no longer works for the New York Times, told the newspaper Epstein never provided any such pictures.

Nor is it clear whether Epstein ever had such images.

Trump denies any wrongdoing. He has said he cut ties with Epstein after Epstein recruited teenage girls from Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf club.

The president posted on social media "the Democrats are using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures".

Image source, Bloomberg/Getty Images

Among the 218 politicians calling for a vote on the Epstein files are four Republicans, including Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie, who co-sponsored the petition with Democrat Ro Khanna in September.

He's joined by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, who says releasing the files is the right thing to do for both "victims" and "the country".

The other two Republicans are South Carolina's Nancy Mace, who says the petition is "deeply personal" to her as a survivor of sexual and domestic violence, and Lauren Boebert, who met with the Trump administration on Wednesday over the petition.

Image source, Reuters

Next week, the House will vote on whether the justice department should release all Epstein files.

Speaking on Wednesday, Congressman Thomas Massie says he's already had a couple of Republicans tell his office privately that they're going to vote in favour.

"I think that could snowball," he tells CNN.

Massie also warns Republicans tempted to vote against the bill in order to get a "deal" with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has said that "only a very bad, or stupid, Republican" would support further Epstein inquiries.

Massie says: "I would remind my colleagues that this vote is going to be on your record for longer than Trump is going to be president."

Image source, Reuters

In the last few moments, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has posted on social media, saying the Epstein story is "another Democrat + Mainstream Media hoax, fuelled by fake outrage, to distract from the President's wins".

"Republicans, don't be fooled," she writes.

"President Trump will remain focused on Making America Affordable Again."

She also suggests that without this story - "CNN would be forced to talk about how Chuck Schumer and the Democrats got shellacked by President Trump and Republicans in the government shutdown fight".

Among the email exchanges released by US lawmakers yesterday is one apparently between Jeffrey Epstein and Kathryn Ruemmler, a lawyer who served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama.

On 23 August 2018, Ruemmler emailed Epstein a link to a New York Times opinion piece that mentioned hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 White House election about her alleged affair with Donald Trump, which he denies.

Trump was convicted in Manhattan last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to those payments.

"I thought you'd find interesting," Ruemmler, now chief legal officer and general counsel at Goldman Sachs, wrote to Epstein.

"It makes no difference whether it was his money," she wrote in the message thread.

"Issue is failure to disclose, " Epstein replied: "You see, I know how dirty donald is."

The BBC has not independently verified the emails released yesterday. We've contacted Goldman Sachs for comment. The bank declined to comment on the emails.

The White House has said the emails released "prove literally nothing".