Largest Epstein release yet names Trump in 8 flight logs
Washington/New Delhi: The US Justice Department on Tuesday released a vast new tranche of records linked to the investigation of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, bringing renewed scrutiny to the case years after his death in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. The disclosure, running to about 30,000 pages along with dozens of video clips, includes previously unseen material and references to several prominent figures, among them President Donald Trump, though authorities reiterated that he has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
The latest release follows an earlier batch of files made public last Friday and Saturday that were heavily redacted. Those initial disclosures drew criticism from lawmakers and activists who alleged that the Justice Department was moving slowly and selectively, with some claiming references to Trump had been excluded. Tuesday’s documents contain multiple mentions of Trump, many of them drawn from media reports or investigative notes, and some that officials cautioned were unverified.
Within minutes of the publication, the Justice Department issued a public statement defending the 79-year-old Republican. In a post on X, the department said that some of the newly released materials included “untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump that were submitted to the FBI shortly before the 2020 presidential election. “The claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the department said, without detailing which allegations it considered inaccurate.
A central document drawing attention is an internal email dated January 7, 2020, related to Epstein’s flight records. The email states that Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than has previously been reported.” The sender and recipient are redacted, though the message appears in a chain associated with an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York. According to the email, Trump was listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including four trips with Epstein’s long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The records also note that Trump travelled at times with then-wife Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric.
The email further describes individual flights in detail. One 1993 trip reportedly listed only Trump and Epstein as passengers, while another flight included Epstein, Trump and an unidentified 20-year-old woman whose name is redacted. Two additional flights mentioned women who, prosecutors suggested, could have been potential witnesses in a Maxwell case. Maxwell remains the only person convicted in connection with Epstein’s crimes.
Other references to Trump in the files are difficult to verify. One appears in a handwritten letter purportedly written by Epstein while in custody to Larry Nassar, the former US gymnastics doctor imprisoned for abusing female athletes. The letter contains crude remarks attributed to Epstein about a “president”, language that officials have not authenticated.
Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, has offered varying accounts of how their relationship ended. He has said they fell out after Epstein allegedly recruited young women from the spa at Trump’s Florida golf club and has also said he barred Epstein from the property for inappropriate behaviour. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he did not approve of the document releases, arguing that people who “innocently met” Epstein risked having their reputations damaged. “Everybody was friendly with this guy,” he said. He did not publicly comment on Tuesday’s release, instead posting on Truth Social about economic issues.
The document dump was mandated by a transparency law passed by Congress last month after a bipartisan revolt within Trump’s Republican Party. Many Americans, including some of Trump’s supporters, have long alleged a cover-up designed to shield wealthy and influential figures linked to Epstein. The co-sponsors of the law, Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, warned over the weekend that they could pursue contempt of Congress proceedings against Attorney General Pam Bondi for failing to meet the initial release deadline. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the files include an email indicating that federal investigators had examined “at least” ten possible Epstein co-conspirators. “The Department of Justice needs to shed more light on who was on the list, how they were involved, and why they chose not to prosecute,” Schumer said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the phased release was necessary to protect the identities of more than 1,000 victims referenced in the records. Earlier disclosures also included previously unseen photographs of former president Bill Clinton with Epstein and a 1996 description of a criminal complaint against the financier. Epstein’s death was ruled an apparent suicide, a conclusion that has continued to fuel controversy as more details emerge. with agency inputs
