Nearly a month before President Donald Trump met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, Jeffrey Epstein attempted to pass a message to Russia’s top diplomat: If you want to understand Trump, talk to me.

“I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote in a June 24, 2018, email to Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway who was leading the Council of Europe at the time of the exchange. Lavrov was an apparent reference to Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longtime foreign minister.

In the email exchange, one of hundreds released Wednesday by congressional investigators, Epstein indicated he had previously talked about Trump with Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s forceful ambassador to the United Nations, before Churkin died in 2017.

“Churkin was great,” Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, wrote. “He understood trump after our conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something its that simple.”

The exchange was among dozens that showcase Epstein’s extraordinary network of international associates, whom he often corresponded with about Trump’s first-term policy decisions.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the emails, but press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Wednesday the broader set of emails “prove absolutely nothing other than President Trump did nothing wrong.”

Trump later posted on Truth Social: “Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown.” He was referring to the U.S. government shutdown.

In the emails, Jagland said he was meeting Lavrov’s assistant the following day and would suggest a connection with Epstein. It’s unclear if anything ever came of the proposed contact.

But Epstein would later opine about Trump’s fateful meeting with Putin, which was panned around the world for his apparent capitulations to the Russian dictator.

“Do the Russians have stuff on Trump? Today was appalling even by his standards,” wrote Larry Summers, the former Clinton administration Treasury secretary and Obama administration economic adviser, in an email to Epstein on July 16, 2018, the day of the Helsinki summit with Putin.

“My email is full with similar comments. wow,” Epstein replied the next day. “Im sure his view is that it went super well. he thinks he has charmed his adversary.. Admittedly he has no idea of the symbolism. He has no idea of most things.” He also called Trump’s handling of the summit with Putin “predictable.”

Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Days later, Epstein was flexing his overseas relationships in an email exchange with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, telling him in a July 23, 2018, message that Bannon needed to be physically present in Europe to wield influence on the continent.

“If you are going to play here , you’ll have to spend time, europe by remote doesn’t work,” Epstein wrote.

Epstein told Bannon he could organize one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders but that he would have to stay for several days.

“The fear is that you gin up their hopes and emotions and then abandon them. I think you want to be an insider, not an outsider flying in and out.”

A representative for Bannon declined to comment.

Epstein often relied on his foreign contacts to learn about their views of Trump as he obsessively tracked the new president’s actions. And at other times, he simply showcased his deep connections around the world in emails with other associates.

“Can you belive MBS sent me a TENT carpets and all,” Epstein wrote to billionaire businessman Tom Pritzker in December 2016, referring to Mohammed bin Salman, who is now the Saudi crown prince.

“A tent? Hmmm…” Pritzker wrote back. “I think that is code for ‘I love you’. Or, maybe code for ‘go pound sand’. Better check your [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] urban dictionary.”

Pritzker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A year before he reached out to Jagland for help with the Russians, Jagland asked Epstein to visit him in Strasbourg, France, so Epstein could help him “understand more about Trump and what’s going on in the American society.”

Among Epstein’s international connections was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, a businessman based in the United Arab Emirates. Sulayem asked Epstein two weeks before Trump’s first inauguration if he should “accept the invitation” extended to him by Trump associate Tom Barrack, who oversaw the event.

Barrack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Epstein responded that it would be “very crowded” but might be worth it to make connections in Washington or New York before and after the festivities.

“Do you think it will be possible to shake hand with trump,” Sulayem responded. It’s unclear if Epstein replied.

Saudi representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did the Russian Embassy in Washington. Jagland couldn’t be reached for comment and Sulayem didn’t respond to a request sent to what appeared to be his Instagram account.