Democrats released emails on Wednesday in which Jeffrey Epstein suggested that Donald Trump was aware of the financier’s sexual abuse and definitely “knew about the girls”.

Trump has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, as he was awaiting trial.

But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the emails “raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”

The furore around the disgraced financier is still roiling Trump’s administration four months after his Justice Department effectively closed the case, announcing there was no more information to share.

Democrats in the House – keen to capitalise on the simmering controversy – have been trying to force a vote that would compel publication of the full Epstein case files.

The newly released emails were written to long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein’s death, and the author Michael Wolff.