A newly released batch of the so-called Epstein files includes many references to Donald Trump, including a claim by a senior US attorney that the US president was on a flight in the 1990s with the now-deceased convicted child sex offender and a 20-year-old woman.
There is no indication of whether the woman was a victim of any crime, and being included in the files does not indicate any criminal wrongdoing.
The dump of files by the justice department follows a similar release last week of a section of the documents detailing its investigations into the billionaire sex offender.
There are numerous references to Trump, including an email that suggests he travelled onboard Epstein’s private jet with women who would have been possible witnesses to the case against Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The email – sent by the US attorney for the southern district of New York on 7 January 2020 – has the subject “Epstein flight records”.
It reads: “For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump travelled 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.
“In particular, he is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having travelled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric.
“On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old REDACTED.
“On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a [Ghislaine] Maxwell case.”
Throughout his most recent presidential campaign, Trump vowed to release Epstein-related files. This summer, his administration prompted backlash after the justice department announced it would not release any files related to the late financier, and said it had found “no incriminating client list” despite earlier claims from Pam Bondi, the attorney general, that such a document was sitting on her desk.
The announcement sparked bipartisan outrage – including from some Trump supporters – and reignited scrutiny of Epstein’s past ties to Trump, with whom he was friendly for at least 15 years before falling out in 2004. The president has consistently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
On Tuesday, the DoJ said in a statement that it had released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Epstein and that “some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.
“To be clear: 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 statement reads. “Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DoJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”
Among the files released on Tuesday is a letter that appears to have been sent by Epstein to Larry Nassar, the US gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing scores of young gymnasts, while he was in jail.
The letter, postmarked 13 August 2019 and sent from “J Epstein” at “Manhattan Correctional” to “Larry Nassar”, reads: “Dear L.N. as you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home. Good Luck! We share one thing … our love & caring for young ladies at the hope they’d reach their full potential. Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system. Life is unfair. Yours, J. Epstein.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell on 10 August 2019. The death was ruled a suicide.
The letter is also mentioned in another file, a FBI laboratory examination request, where it states that on 25 September 2019, an FBI agent received a phone call from a Bureau of Prisons special investigative section lieutenant regarding a letter that was received by the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
It says that the letter was a “return to sender” and “the following was written at the top left corner of the letter: J. Epstein Manhattan Correctional NYC NY 10007. The letter was postmarked NOVA 220 13 August 2019 and was addressed to Larry Nassar”.
The file states that it was sent to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility and that the reason for the “return to sender” was that the addressee was “no longer at this address”.
The FBI document, which is dated 31 July 2020, states that FBI New York is requesting the lab to “perform a handwriting analysis comparing the letter” to the “handwriting of Jeffrey Epstein to conclude if the individual who wrote the letter was Epstein or another unknown person”.
In the new batch of files of files released by the DoJ, there are also numerous references to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew.
