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Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office during a press event.
"Is it a joke? Is it not? Who’s he talking about? We don’t know,” U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia said about the peculiar discovery in an interview with The Advocate.
The latest tranche of emails from the estate of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein includes one that contains what appear to be references to President Donald Trump allegedly performing oral sex, raising questions the committee cannot answer until the Department of Justice turns over records it has withheld, says U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
Garcia insists the Trump White House is helping block them.
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In a Friday afternoon interview with The Advocate, the out California lawmaker responded to a 2018 exchange, which was included in the emails released, between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother, Mark Epstein. In that message, Mark wrote that because Jeffrey Epstein had said he was with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, he should “ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”
“Bubba” is a nickname former President Bill Clinton has been known by; however, the email does not clarify who Mark Epstein meant, and the context remains unclear.
“That’s a very, very interesting email,” Garcia said. “I read it as well.”
He emphasized that the committee lacks sufficient information to accurately interpret the message.
Related: Jefrey Epstein’s brother says the ‘Bubba’ mentioned in Trump oral sex email is not Bill Clinton
“We’re not sure, actually, what that’s in reference to, obviously. So is it a joke? Is it not? Who’s he talking about? We don’t know,” he said. “And which is why it’s important for people to know that these emails that we got, they’re from the Epstein estate, right? We got these emails through a subpoena through the estate, and it pales in comparison to what the Department of Justice has to get us as a committee.”
Related: House Oversight chair calls Robert Garcia 'drama queen' for releasing Epstein birthday book
Garcia said the missing DOJ records are essential to understanding the emails and testimony the committee has already collected.
“There’s a massive cover-up at the White House and the DOJ right now over the files,” he said. “Those are the documents that we need for us to fill in the blanks and actually put this together.”
The interview came the same day Trump said he would direct the DOJ to investigate Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and others named in Epstein-related communications.
“Donald Trump is clearly panicked,” Garcia said. “He’s obviously obsessed with hiding the files, and he has the power to release them today. If he wants real justice for the survivors, he should release the files today.”
In a written statement released to the public, Garcia added: “Our Oversight investigation has Donald Trump panicked and desperate. He is trying to deflect from serious new questions we have about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The President has not explained why he won’t release the files to the American people. Or why sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to a cushy low-security prison after her interview with Trump’s former personal lawyer.”
Related: Donald Trump's niece says 'that’s definitely his signature' on Jeffrey Epstein's card
Garcia told The Advocate that Trump and his allies spent years using Epstein as political ammunition, only to resist the very transparency they once demanded.
“Donald Trump spent his entire campaign — JD Vance, the MAGAverse — just talking about the Epstein files and promising their release,” he said. He pointed to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s February event billed as a release of documents, when far-right influencers paraded around binders with no new information, which did not include the records in question. “And then we find out that Donald Trump doesn’t want them released,” he said.
“You can’t go all in on something and then do a complete flip and not have the question asked why,” Garcia continued. “Why did this happen? Why are they now refusing to release the files? I think it begs real questions. What are they hiding? And I think that’s the moment that we’re in right now.”
Newsweek reported Friday that Mark Epstein told the outlet the “Bubba” he mentioned in the 2018 email was not Clinton, though he did not clarify who he meant. On Saturday evening, Mark Epstein, through a spokesperson, sent The Advocate a statement denying that “Bubba” is Clinton.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, told The Advocate that, “These emails prove literally nothing.”
She added, “Democrats and the mainstream media are desperately trying to use this hoax as a distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight.”
According to an AP/NORC poll released Wednesday, 62 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with only 36 percent approval.
"We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including cutting the Biden-era price hikes,” Jackson concluded.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include that Mark Epstein denied that Bubba was Clinton in an email to The Advocate.
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