The Justice Department has begun to publish documents from the Epstein files in its possession regarding the life, death and criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
NPR is reviewing the website the Justice Department created to make the documents publicly available. The Epstein Library includes documents broken into Court Records, DOJ Disclosures, Freedom of Information Act Records and House Disclosures, including files already released by the House Oversight Committee. Under the law, the DOJ was required to put the documents on a website and make them downloadable and searchable.
Many of the files released Friday are already public.
On Friday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated in an interview with Fox News "several hundreds of thousands" of pages would be released on Friday, with more to follow.
The release of the Epstein files is the latest development in a political saga that has dogged President Trump's second term in office and caused bipartisan backlash against Trump's conflicting and shifting commentary on the subject.
Trump amplified conspiracy theories about the files relating to his onetime friend Epstein on the campaign trail, vowing to publicize information about the financier's crimes and ties to powerful people that he alleged was being covered up by the government.
After he returned to the White House, Trump fought efforts by lawmakers and his supporters to release those files, calling Republicans who demanded transparency "stupid" and blaming Democrats for pushing a "hoax" before ultimately signing a law that was passed with near unanimous support.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act gave Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to publish "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" about Epstein available in a searchable and downloadable format. That deadline was Dec. 19.
The law also directed the Justice Department to share documents related to Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and "individuals named or referenced in connection with Epstein's criminal activities," information regarding plea deals and decisions not to charge Epstein for other alleged crimes, as well as records pertaining to his 2019 death by suicide in federal custody.
Over the summer, the FBI put out a memo that said their files include "a significant amount of material, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence."
Some of that includes photos and videos of Epstein's accusers, including minors, and disturbing material that will not be made public. The bill from Congress also says anything "that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution" can be withheld or redacted, too.
Trump called on the Justice Department to investigate some Democrats and institutions he said were complicit in Epstein's crimes or mentioned in other documents made public, including tens of thousands of emails and private files turned over to the House Oversight committee under subpoena, FBI records and numerous court cases over the years.
"I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him," Trump wrote on Truth Social in November.
In a separate Truth Social post announcing his signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump said Democrats were using the issue to distract from what he says are victories for his administration.
"Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, because I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!" he posted.
The president had the authority to release the files without congressional action.
Thousands of pages are already public
Friday's release of Justice Department files joins tens of thousands of other records made public over the years, including court cases, government document dumps and subpoenas from Congress.
Spread throughout roughly 23,000 documents released by the House Oversight Committee in early November, emails and texts revealed a list of powerful people in politics, academia and business that sought his counsel and friendship in the years after he pleaded guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 in 2008.
The people who consulted with Epstein in those documents rarely acknowledged the severity of the crimes that required him to register as a sex offender, though simply corresponding with Epstein does not implicate individuals in his criminal activities, convicted or accused.
There's an apparent letter of recommendation for Epstein from linguist Noam Chomsky, calling him a "highly valued friend," that recalled how Epstein connected him with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak — another frequent Epstein correspondent.
"Jeffrey constantly raises searching questions and puts forth provocative ideas, which have repeatedly led me to rethink crucial issues," the letter reads.
There's advice Epstein gave to Steve Bannon, Trump's former strategist, about ways to build a far-right political movement overseas.
"If you are going to play here, you'll have to spend time, [E]urope by remote doesn't work," Epstein wrote in 2018. "Lots and lots of face time and hand holding. Europe can be a wife not a mistress."
Former Harvard University president and onetime Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is documented numerous times having intimate personal chats with Epstein, including asking for romantic advice and joking about women's intelligence.
"I yipped about inclusion," wrote Summers in 2017. "I observed that half the IQ [in the] world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population...."
In the weeks since the latest Epstein emails release, he has resigned from the board of OpenAI and abruptly left his teaching role at Harvard, as the university announced a probe of "information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted."
Summers isn't the only high-profile Democrat who found himself in Epstein's orbit. Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House counsel in the Obama administration and current chief legal officer for Goldman Sachs, messaged with Epstein before and during Trump's first term.
"Trump is living proof of the adage that it is better to be lucky than smart," she wrote in August 2015.
"I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein," Ruemmler told the Wall Street Journal in 2023.
Trump's name appears repeatedly
Trump was a frequent subject of emails and text messages in the latest private Epstein file tranche — well over a thousand different mentions — though mainly the subject of Epstein's near-obsession with his presidency, as the latter positioned himself as a Trump whisperer of sorts to his powerful associates.
In one 2015 email between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, the pair discuss a potential question from an upcoming CNN appearance about Trump and Epstein's personal ties.
"I think you should let him hang himself," Wolff wrote. "If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt."
Another email Epstein sent in 2011 to Ghislaine Maxwell, his associate who has been convicted on trafficking charges, called Trump the "dog that hasn't barked" and says Trump spent "hours at my house" with one of the alleged sex trafficking victims.
Still another is a 2019 message between Epstein and Wolff in which the disgraced financier wrote that "of course [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop." The email does not elaborate any further.
"I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump," Epstein wrote in 2017 to Summers. "Not one decent cell in his body."
In September, House Democrats released more than 200 pages of a birthday book for Epstein created more than two decades ago that includes a lewd drawing and letter that appears to be signed by Trump.
The president, who has consistently denied any meaningful connection to Epstein, called the drawing and signature "fake."
In July, Trump told reporters that he and Epstein fell out because Epstein hired away young female employees who worked at the spa at Mar-a-Lago.
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