A trove of recently disclosed correspondence has shed new light on the deteriorating personal relationship between a former U.S. president and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The emails, released by a congressional committee, indicate a significant breach of trust that reportedly led to a cessation of communication.
The documents reveal a private 2016 exchange in which Epstein confided in a former high-ranking White House official about his decision to cut ties. In the message, Epstein cited a specific incident where the former president allegedly made a promise with “wholehearted conviction,” only to have apparently contradicted that same pledge mere weeks later. “My memory is a friend killer,” Epstein wrote, explaining his reason for ending the dialogue.
The recipient of the email, a lawyer who previously served in a senior administration role, responded with pointed criticism of the former commander-in-chief. The attorney characterized him as being “very close to being a psychopath” and asserted he possessed “no conscience,” describing the assessment as “scary.”
Epstein, in his reply, conceded the lawyer was correct in their judgment, stating, “You were right and I was wrong.” He offered to accept the consequences, metaphorically suggesting he would eat “humble pie, crow or my own words.”
While the timeline of the estrangement remains partially unclear—later emails from 2018 still reference the former president in connection with Epstein—the 2016 correspondence provides a stark window into the personal grievances that preceded their fallout. The financier was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The former president has consistently and publicly denied any awareness of Epstein’s criminal activities. The release of these private communications adds a new, contentious layer to the historical record of their association.
