Mark Epstein—the brother of the late financier, pedophile, and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein—released a statement addressing an email exchange between himself and his brother that sparked online speculation that President Donald Trump had once performed oral sex on former President Bill Clinton.
The House Oversight Committee on Friday released thousands of emails from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, and attention quickly zeroed in on one exchange between Mark and Jeffrey Epstein.
“Bannon with me,” Jeffrey Epstein wrote in a March 2018 message, referring to White House adviser Steve Bannon, to which Mark Epstein responded:
“Ask him if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba?"
“And I thought I had tsuris,” Jeffrey Epstein shot back, using the Yiddish word for “troubles.” The thread ricocheted across social media, with many noting that “Bubba” appeared several times in the newly released emails and was widely understood as a reference to Clinton. “Bubba” has long been a nickname for the former president.
Mark Epstein replied:
"You and your boy Donnie can make a remake of the movie Get Hard."
You can see the exchange below.
House Oversight Committee
Mark Epstein released the following statement after news of the email exchange went viral:
"Recently, emails from 2018 between my brother and me were made public. They were simply part of a humorous private exchange between two brothers and were never meant for public release or to be interpreted as serious remarks."
"For the avoidance of doubt, the reference to ‘Bubba’ in this correspondence is not, in any way, a reference to former President Bill Clinton. Any attempt to conflate that reference with President Clinton, or to read sweeping implications into them, misrepresents both the purpose and the tone of the original correspondence."
"I want to be absolutely clear on this point so that the public record is not distorted and so that speculation does not unfairly implicate people who are not actually being referenced in these communications."
You can see the statement below.
@JayShamsX
Ali Clark, Mark Epstein's spokesperson, told The Advocate in an email that Bubba is “a private individual who is not a public figure." Another spokesperson added that “misinterpretations of formal language or nicknames in email correspondence” distract from “the serious questions that remain unanswered."
Mark Epstein declined to provide additional context when asked to explain the reference and whether Bubba knows Trump.
And he didn't really do a good job of shutting this all down come to think of it.
His refusal to offer more details did prompt people to note that Jeffrey Epstein's associate and procurer Ghislaine Maxwell actually had a horse with that name... an unfortunate visual.
The exchange has only heightened the scrutiny around Trump—who has thus far been unable to shake off the Epstein scandal.
The release from House Oversight Committee Democrats includes emails such as one Jeffrey Epstein sent Maxwell that reads:
“I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked is Trump. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned. Police chief, etc. I’m 75% there.”
In another message, dated January 31, 2019, Epstein emailed journalist Michael Wolff:
“[Victim] Mar-a-Lago. [identifier]. Trump said he asked me to resign — never a member, ever. Of course he knew about the girls, as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
Trump has lashed out at Republicans—including Representatives Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene—for backing efforts to release the files. He also announced the Justice Department would investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to Democrats.
In an abrupt about-face, Trump, who has long resisted releasing the Epstein files despite campaigning on a promise to do so, is urging House Republicans to publicize them "because we have nothing to hide." Dozens of Republicans have now signaled they are willing to vote in favor of releasing the files.
There appear to be enough votes for it to pass in the House. The Senate, however, is still up in the air.
