The White House's so-called rapid response team struggled to defend President Donald Trump after the release of emails from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Wednesday, House Democrats shared emails provided by Epstein's estate that said Trump "knew about the girls" who were being trafficked.
"Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever," Epstein told author Michael Wolff in 2019 in reference to claims that he had been kicked out of the Mar-a-Lago resort. "[O]f course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop."
In another email, Epstein noted that Trump hadn't disclosed his sex trafficking activities by calling him "a dog that hasn't barked."
The White House responded by sharing a post from House Republicans that noted "victim, Virginia Giuffre, publicly said that she never witnessed wrongdoing by President Trump."
"Why did Democrats cover up the name when the Estate didn't redact it in the redacted documents provided to the committee?" Oversight Republicans asked. "Democrats are trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of creating a "fake narrative to smear President Trump."
She noted that Giuffre said Trump "couldn't have been friendlier" to her.
"These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again," Leavitt added.