The Justice Department on Monday briefly published thousands of additional documents related to the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after it failed to meet a congressionally mandated deadline of December 19 to release all unclassified records. The second tranche of documents were available online for several hours on Monday afternoon but disappeared from the Justice Department’s website — without explanation — around 8 p.m. The documents contain wide-ranging references to Donald Trump.
One email, written by an assistant U.S. attorney during Trump’s first term, in early 2020, found Trump was a passenger aboard Epstein’s private jet on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996. On at least four of those flights, Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell was also present. The email reads, “For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case.”
On Monday, 18 survivors of Epstein wrote a joint letter condemning the Justice Department’s release of just a fraction of the files demanded by law, and called on Congress to hold hearings to ensure that the Trump administration is fully complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They write, “Survivors deserve truth. Survivors whose identities are private deserve protection. The public deserves accountability. And the law must be enforced.” Click here to see our interview with Congressmember Ro Khanna.
