By Gram Slattery, Steve Holland and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump was eager to claim victory this week after the record-long U.S. government shutdown ended on his terms. But almost immediately, the White House was forced to battle a familiar bogeyman: Jeffrey Epstein.

A trove of emails released by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday reignited questions about Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier and how much the president knew about Epstein’s alleged abuse of underage women.

While the White House swiftly dismissed the effort as a Democratic smear campaign, the headline-grabbing messages underscored a potential vulnerability for Trump that could shadow the president and his Republican Party into next year’s midterm congressi

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