WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department released tens of thousands more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a tranche that included multiple mentions of President Donald Trump but added little new revelatory information to the long-anticipated public file on the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The release is the most voluminous so far and comes after a massive public campaign for transparency into the U.S. government's Epstein investigations.
Many of the mentions of Trump in the file came from news clippings, though it includes an email from a prosecutor pointing out the flights that Trump took on Epstein's private jet in the 1990s.
The two men were friends for years before a falling out. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
The Justice Department issued a statement Tuesday that some documents contain "untrue and sensationalist claims" about Trump — and said one document, purported to be a letter from Epstein to Larry Nassar, a sports doctor convicted of sexually abusing Olympic athletes, was deemed fake.
President Donald Trump speaks Monday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla.
An assistant U.S. attorney from the Southern District of New York said in an email that flight records the office received on Jan. 6, 2020, showed that Trump was on Epstein's jet "many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware)."
The prosecutor who flagged the Trump mentions in the flight logs said they did so because lawyers "didn't want any of this to be a surprise down the road."
His travels on Epstein's plane spanned the time that would likely be covered in any criminal charges against Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump was listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, and Maxwell was on at least four of those flights, according to the email.
On one of those eight flights, in 1993, Trump and Epstein were the only two passengers listed in the flight logs. On another flight, the three passengers listed are Epstein, Trump and a redacted individual, who was 20 years old at the time. Two other flights included two women — whose names were redacted in follow-up emails — identified as potential witnesses in a Maxwell case.
Several additional Trump trips on Epstein's plane previously were disclosed during Maxwell's criminal proceedings.
Asked for comment about the email, the White House pointed to a Justice Department statement saying Monday's release contained "unfounded and false" claims against Trump submitted to the FBI shortly before the 2020 election, but they were nevertheless released for full transparency.
Later Tuesday, the department said on social media that the FBI confirmed the purported Nassar letter "is FAKE" based on the handwriting, Virginia postmark and return address, which did not include Epstein's jail or inmate number, both required for outgoing mail.
"This fake letter serves as a reminder that just because a document is released by the Department of Justice does not make the allegations or claims within the document factual," the department said on social media.
A desk and photographs are pictured July 6, 2019, during a search of Jeffrey Epstein's home in New York.
The latest release also showed that Mar-a-Lago, Trump's southern Florida club, was served with a subpoena in 2021 for its employment records. The disclosure came as part of an email chain in which lawyers for the Southern District of New York and an attorney in touch with representatives for the Trump Organization discussed the employment status of someone whose name was redacted.
Trump complained that the files were a distraction from the work he and other Republicans are doing for the country.
He also expressed frustration about the famous people shown with Epstein in photos released by the Justice Department — people who he said may not have known him but ended up in the shot anyway.
"You probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago. And they're, you know, highly respected bankers and lawyers and others," Trump said.
Well-known people shown in the files include former President Bill Clinton, the late pop star Michael Jackson and singer Diana Ross. The mere inclusion of someone's name or images in files from the investigation does not imply wrongdoing.
The latest release also includes files that put the U.K.'s former Prince Andrew back in the headlines. King Charles III stripped his younger brother of the right to be called a prince and other royal titles and honors in October, amid continued publicity about his links to Epstein.
Among those documents is correspondence between Maxwell and someone who signs off with the initial "A," who wrote: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”
The email exchange includes other references that suggest Maxwell's correspondent may be Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He denied committing crimes, including having sex with Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.
The documents also reveal months of sometimes testy negotiations as U.S. federal prosecutors tried but ultimately failed to secure Mountbatten-Windsor's testimony.
An email that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Monday.
Monday's overnight release was the biggest dump yet, nearly 30,000 more pages. Those include news clippings, tips to law enforcement and surveillance videos from the New York jail where Epstein was held before taking his own life in 2019. Much was already in the public domain.
Trump tried for months to keep the records sealed before relenting to political pressure and signing new law called for the files to be released by last Friday. Instead, the Justice Department began releasing them in stages starting Friday. Officials said they're going slowly to protect victims, though some Epstein victims called for greater transparency.
The administration also faces accusations that it is withholding too much information.
