If there was anything condemning Trump it would be out years ago . That doesn’t mean there aren’t any other Republicans to out .
Omnibus Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell
- Thread starter Tecumsehsbones
- Start date
The exchange comes amid heightened scrutiny over Trump’s relationship with the disgraced New York City financier after Democrats released a collection of emails sent by Epstein where Trump was mentioned by name.
Trump tells reporter 'Quiet, piggy' in response to Epstein questions — Global News
The exchange comes amid heightened scrutiny over Trump's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.apple.news
The bill requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all “unclassified” records related to Epstein within 30 days. The law permits Bondi to withhold or redact information that could jeopardize a federal investigation.
Instead of holding a public bill signing ceremony at the White House, as he has with other pieces of legislation, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had signed the measure. He also used the post to take more digs at Democrats, repeating his "hoax" characterization and arguing that they were seeking "to try and distract" from his administration's accomplishments.
apple.news
President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday to compel the Justice Department to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, capping off a monthslong bipartisan push in Congress that initially met resistance from the president and sparked sharp divisions within the Republican Party.
Instead of holding a public bill signing ceremony at the White House, as he has with other pieces of legislation, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had signed the measure. He also used the post to take more digs at Democrats, repeating his "hoax" characterization and arguing that they were seeking "to try and distract" from his administration's accomplishments.
Trump signs bill to release the DOJ's Epstein files — NBC News
The legislation requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified records related to Epstein within 30 days.
The White House has doubled down on the comment, saying Lucey had “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane”, providing no details on what that meant. “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take,” they said.
Trump is going through a string of losses: Democrats dominating in off-year elections, having to reverse course on the Epstein files, Republicans refusing to get rid of the filibuster to end the shutdown, a faltering economy. There’s a possibility that he’s losing his air of impenetrability, and his grip on the right could maybe, just maybe, be loosening.
The anger he displayed in the clip could be a sign of someone on the back foot, overreacting to a question Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey was asking about why Trump was fighting against releasing the Epstein files “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files”. The files related to the child sexual abuser released so far by Congress show that Epstein communicated regularly, and derogatorily, about women with a host of prominent friends.
Lashing out at a female reporter with a derogatory insult amid a news cycle dominated by politicians splitting hairs over a man who ran a sex-trafficking outfit – it was pretty on the nose.
‘Unforgivable’: Trump’s ‘piggy’ insult is stoking more outrage than usual — Guardian US
The clip of the US president on Air Force One last Friday has taken off without much help from the media itself
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of Khashoggi, responding to a question from ABC News’s Mary Bruce. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
Dozens of Epstein Victims’ Names Exposed in Files Released by Congress — The Wall Street Journal
Lawyers petition court after the women’s names were included in documents provided by Justice Department, Epstein estate
Just one day before the deadline for the U.S. Department of Justice to release all (?) government files related to Jeffrey Epstein, another batch of photos obtained from the estate of the convicted sex offender were released by Democrats on Thursday.
They say the photos were carefully selected to provide the American public with transparency and insights into Epstein’s network and his “extremely disturbing activities?”
The Justice Department has until Friday to release all Epstein documents after President Donald Trump signed a bill into law last month, bowing to political pressure from both Democrats and Republicans. The House of Representatives passed the legislation with a 427-1 vote and the Senate approved it unanimously without a formal vote.
apple.news
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is seeking to have her 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking overturned.
Maxwell’s lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus in New York on Wednesday challenging her 2021 conviction, arguing that “substantial new evidence” (?) has emerged since then.
The filing came two days before records in her case were scheduled to be released publicly as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law, signed after months of public and political pressure, including from Epstein’s victims, requires the Justice Department to release Epstein-related records to the public by Dec. 19.
(YouTube & Holy Shit! Really? Trump on if he'd consider pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell: 'I'll take a look at it')
That probably doesn’t bode well for Venezuela.
apple.news
It comes as the justice department faces a 19 December deadline to release files related to federal investigations into Epstein. Maxwell filed the petition pro se - without an attorney - on Wednesday.
Maxwell was moved from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas in August, after she was interviewed by Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche about her ties to Epstein.
apple.news
Despite trying to distance himself from the scandal, Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out granting Maxwell a pardon.
time.com
apple.news
They say the photos were carefully selected to provide the American public with transparency and insights into Epstein’s network and his “extremely disturbing activities?”
The Justice Department has until Friday to release all Epstein documents after President Donald Trump signed a bill into law last month, bowing to political pressure from both Democrats and Republicans. The House of Representatives passed the legislation with a 427-1 vote and the Senate approved it unanimously without a formal vote.
Another batch of Jeffrey Epstein photos released day before U.S. deadline — Toronto Sun
Several show messages written on a woman's body parts, including one with a copy of Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita' in the background
Maxwell’s lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus in New York on Wednesday challenging her 2021 conviction, arguing that “substantial new evidence” (?) has emerged since then.
The filing came two days before records in her case were scheduled to be released publicly as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law, signed after months of public and political pressure, including from Epstein’s victims, requires the Justice Department to release Epstein-related records to the public by Dec. 19.
That probably doesn’t bode well for Venezuela.
Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction — Global News
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers filed a petition challenging her 2021 conviction, arguing that 'substantial new evidence' has emerged since then.
Maxwell was moved from a Florida prison to a new minimum-security facility in Texas in August, after she was interviewed by Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche about her ties to Epstein.
Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to vacate her 20-year prison sentence — BBC News
It comes as the US justice department faces a 19 December deadline to release all files related the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Will Trump Pardon Child Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell?
Despite distancing himself from the Epstein scandal, Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out a pardon for Maxwell.
time.com
Trump Pardoned Fraudsters, Cop-Assaulters And A Drug Lord — Is Ghislaine Maxwell Next? — HuffPost
The president has said he has the right to pardon the world’s most notorious living child sex trafficker and has repeatedly refused to rule it out.
Horse shit. You "provide transparency" by releasing all the photos.
It’s a dogs breakfast. I’m curious to see how, or even if, this plays out today…coincidentally on the same day as that I3-Atlas comet-thing does it close flyby of Earth…so…what else will drown out the Epstein quagmire in the news cycle today?
Plane crash or land invasion of Venezuela?
Not until we soften 'em up with a bombing campaign.
Hey, it worked so well in Vietnam!
In an interview with Fox News, Blanche said the department would “release several hundred thousand documents today.”
But he acknowledged Friday’s release would not encompass all of the DOJ’s documents for the investigation into the late financier.
DOJ won’t meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files — POLITICO
The delay means the White House is in apparent conflict with a law President Donald Trump signed in November.
Who cares ? If they had any smoking guns , it would have surfaced long before now . All Epstein is generating print but no interest . Show us the goods if they are there .View attachment 32307
In an interview with Fox News, Blanche said the department would “release several hundred thousand documents today.”
But he acknowledged Friday’s release would not encompass all of the DOJ’s documents for the investigation into the late financier.
DOJ won’t meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files — POLITICO
The delay means the White House is in apparent conflict with a law President Donald Trump signed in November.
It's not rich people per se, it's the occult shit they've been into for millennia that we've been trained to make fun of each other over as "conspiracy theorists" to talk about their overt dark, sick and violent ways. It's wide open, they always make their intentions clear and hide behind the " conspiracy the theory" mask. Movies like Eyes Wide Shut aren't fiction.
Last edited:
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for Epstein files
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional.
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And David B. Caruso
Published Dec 20, 2025 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 6 minute read
122025-Justice-Department-Jeffrey-Epstein
This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by Uncredited /AP
NEW YORK — At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.
The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”
Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.
Scant new insight in the initial disclosures
Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.
Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.
The gaps go further.
The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability
Justice Department Jeffrey Epstein
This photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a collection of art in Jeffrey Epstein’s home, July 6, 2019, in New York. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.
The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.
There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.
Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.
That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to pass the law forced the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.
“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.
Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context
Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.
The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.
Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases or freedom of information requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.
Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.
Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions and was no explanation given for why any of them were together.
This photo provided by the US Justice Department on December 19, 2025 shows an undated picture of former US president Bill Clinton (C) with US singers Michael Jackson (L) and Diana Ross at an undisclosed location as the Justice Department began releasing the long-awaited records from the investigation into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by HANDOUT /US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AFP via
The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007 yet never charged him.
Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.
One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.
Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.
“For every girl that I brought to the table he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are under age, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”
The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.
Acosta, who was labour secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.
He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.
“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.
“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.
Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and other survivors, said Saturday that her client feels vindicated after the document release. Farmer sought for years documents backing up her claim that Epstein and Maxwell were in possession of child sexual abuse images.
“It’s a triumph and a tragedy,” she said. “It looks like the government did absolutely nothing. Horrible things have happened and if they investigated in even the smallest way, they could have stopped him.”
— Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Kristin M. Hall, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.
torontosun.com
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional.
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And David B. Caruso
Published Dec 20, 2025 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 6 minute read
122025-Justice-Department-Jeffrey-Epstein
This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by Uncredited /AP
NEW YORK — At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.
The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”
Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.
Scant new insight in the initial disclosures
Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.
Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.
The gaps go further.
The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability
Justice Department Jeffrey Epstein
This photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a collection of art in Jeffrey Epstein’s home, July 6, 2019, in New York. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.
The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.
There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.
Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.
That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to pass the law forced the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.
“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.
Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context
Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.
The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.
Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases or freedom of information requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.
Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.
Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions and was no explanation given for why any of them were together.
This photo provided by the US Justice Department on December 19, 2025 shows an undated picture of former US president Bill Clinton (C) with US singers Michael Jackson (L) and Diana Ross at an undisclosed location as the Justice Department began releasing the long-awaited records from the investigation into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by HANDOUT /US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AFP via
The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007 yet never charged him.
Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.
One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.
Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.
“For every girl that I brought to the table he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are under age, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”
The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.
Acosta, who was labour secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.
He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.
“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.
“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.
Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and other survivors, said Saturday that her client feels vindicated after the document release. Farmer sought for years documents backing up her claim that Epstein and Maxwell were in possession of child sexual abuse images.
“It’s a triumph and a tragedy,” she said. “It looks like the government did absolutely nothing. Horrible things have happened and if they investigated in even the smallest way, they could have stopped him.”
— Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Kristin M. Hall, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for Epstein files
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional.
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for Epstein files
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional.
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And David B. Caruso
Published Dec 20, 2025 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 6 minute read
122025-Justice-Department-Jeffrey-Epstein
This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by Uncredited /AP
NEW YORK — At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.
The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”
Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”
The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.
Scant new insight in the initial disclosures
Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.
Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.
The gaps go further.
The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability
Justice Department Jeffrey Epstein
This photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a collection of art in Jeffrey Epstein’s home, July 6, 2019, in New York. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.
The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.
There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.
Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.
That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to pass the law forced the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.
“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.
Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context
Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.
The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.
Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases or freedom of information requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.
Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.
Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions and was no explanation given for why any of them were together.
This photo provided by the US Justice Department on December 19, 2025 shows an undated picture of former US president Bill Clinton (C) with US singers Michael Jackson (L) and Diana Ross at an undisclosed location as the Justice Department began releasing the long-awaited records from the investigation into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by HANDOUT /US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AFP via
The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007 yet never charged him.
Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.
One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.
Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.
“For every girl that I brought to the table he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are under age, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”
The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.
Acosta, who was labour secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.
He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.
“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.
“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.
Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and other survivors, said Saturday that her client feels vindicated after the document release. Farmer sought for years documents backing up her claim that Epstein and Maxwell were in possession of child sexual abuse images.
“It’s a triumph and a tragedy,” she said. “It looks like the government did absolutely nothing. Horrible things have happened and if they investigated in even the smallest way, they could have stopped him.”
— Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Kristin M. Hall, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for Epstein files
The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional.
From the outside, looking down (geographically), Trump has sure fought hard not to exonerate himself from being accused of being in these Epstein files.
