Fact Check

Email doesn't show Epstein offering girls for sex to Peter Thiel, Gordon Brown among, others

In November 2025, U.S. House Democrats released thousands of pages of documents related to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

by Nur Ibrahim, Published Nov. 13, 2025


Image courtesy of Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/House Oversight Committee Democrats


Claim:
In a 2014 email to former White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler, Jeffrey Epstein offered girls’ for sexual services to billionaire Peter Thiel, former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Emirati and Qatari officials, and others.
Rating:
False

About this rating

Context

The claim is missing the full context of the email chain. In 2014, Epstein was joking about Ruemmler calling herself a girl. He then ticked off the numerous names mentioned above and said Ruemmler was a “welcome guest” at unspecified gatherings with those individuals. Though this email thread didn't contain evidence of Epstein offering girls, he was facing accusations of sex trafficking at the time of his death in 2019.


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In November 2025, the U.S. House Oversight Committee announced the release of an additional 20,000-plus pages of documents related to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after subpoenaing his estate earlier in the year. 

As Snopes has reported previously, Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and became notorious for his sex crimes and his reported ties to elite figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump. The president has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. In an email released by the Oversight Committee in November 2025, Epstein alleged that Trump "knew about the girls," apparently referring to the financier's victims, many of whom were underage.   

After the release of these documents, several social media posts claimed Epstein offered the services of girls to tech billionaire Peter Thiel and former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown among others. One post stated: 

Jeffrey Epstein, in an email to former attorney Kathy Ruemmler, proposes "girls" to Chairman of Palantir Peter Thiel, former CIA Director and Ambassador to Russia William Burns, Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, former Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, among others, including Emirati, Indian and Qatari officials. Ruemmler served as Obama's Deputy Council during both of his Presidential terms.

(X user @officialmintel)

Based on our independent verification of those documents, Epstein did not specifically offer girls to the above individuals. The selected emails were missing context in which Epstein was actually joking with Kathy Ruemmler, former White House counsel to former President Barack Obama, when she referred to herself as a girl. We reached out to Ruemmler and will update this story if we get more information. As such, we rate this claim as false.

Below, we reproduce the available email exchange, starting with the first email sent by Epstein to Ruemmler on Sept. 19, 2014 (emphasis, ours):

EPSTEIN: You need to talk to boss

RUEMMLER: Agreed, but I need to be prepared to say yes before I talk to him. 

EPSTEIN: understood. it comes down to high risk / reward  / low risk  / reward. professional, emotional. and fiinancial.

RUEMMLER: Most girls don't have to worry about this crap.

EPSTEIN:: "girls?" ,, careful i will renew an old habit,   . this week thiel, summers, bill burns, gordon brown, jagland, (council of europe and nobel chairman). mongolia pres, hardeep puree (india), boris (gates), jabor (qatar). sultan (dubai,) kosslyn (harvard), leon black, woody. you are a welcome guest at any.... also if you think there are interesting people in town, everyone here for climate summit, clinton, security council, holy shit im on [REDACTED] for 30 minutes

RUEMMLER: Doesn't look like you are prioritizing your schedule very effectively….how are you going to manage all of that?  This is unga week so the boss will be in town too….I'll be here all week – you may get sick of me… just sat down on the train so can't talk freely

(House Oversight Committee Democrats)

Epstein is joking about Ruemmler referring to herself as a girl before shifting the topic to all the people he was presumably interacting with that week. We do not know which "old habit" Epstein is referring to. He also invited Ruemmler to unspecified events with those people. 

We asked Ruemmler for more details about the gatherings Epstein was discussing in that email and will update this story if we get more information. 

Ruemmler, who is now the chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs, appeared in the documents a few times. In a 2018 exchange, Ruemmler discussed the criminal case against Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations. In another email exchangen Ruemmler wrote critically about people in New Jersey. 

While Epstein may not have been offering "girls" in that particular email thread, before his suicide in 2019, he faced accusations of trafficking dozens of young girls. His former girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein, aiding his abuse and was serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

The Oversight Committee also released a 2003 album of 50th-birthday messages for Epstein. Snopes reported on the album's contents, including a drawing that appeared to show Epstein giving candy to children and a purported risque birthday note from Trump. Snopes also compiled a list of rumors about Trump's relationship with Epstein

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By Nur Ibrahim

Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing.


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