Newly released U.S. Justice Department documents indicate that Donald Trump travelled on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 1996, according to an internal email included in the latest batch of files made public.
The disclosure comes as the Justice Department released another tranche of records related to Epstein, while simultaneously issuing a statement dismissing allegations involving Trump as “untrue and sensationalist.” The department said the documents should not be interpreted as evidence of wrongdoing by the former president.
The email referencing Trump’s flights was sent by an assistant U.S. attorney on Jan. 8, 2020, months after Epstein’s death. By that time, the criminal case against Epstein had already been formally closed following his apparent suicide in a New York jail in August 2019.
Epstein had previously been charged in Florida and New York with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking of minors. On Aug. 29, 2019, a judge officially ended the case against him. Then–Attorney General William Barr later said the Justice Department would continue pursuing any potential co-conspirators who enabled Epstein’s crimes.
One such figure was Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, who was arrested in July 2020, convicted on sex trafficking-related charges, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The latest document release includes roughly 29,000 pages, many of them heavily redacted, as well as dozens of video clips, according to Reuters. Some of the footage reportedly appears to have been recorded inside a prison. The disclosure follows passage of the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates broader public access to records tied to the case.
The limited scope of the release has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, who accuse the Justice Department of withholding key information. The Trump administration has defended the redactions, saying they are necessary to protect privacy and prevent the spread of unverified claims.
The release has also renewed scrutiny of other high-profile figures connected to Epstein. Former president Bill Clinton appears frequently in previously released materials, prompting his spokesperson to call for the immediate publication of all remaining documents mentioning Clinton, including photographs.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump criticized the release of images included in the files, calling it “a terrible thing,” while also suggesting Clinton could handle the scrutiny.
The Justice Department has not indicated whether additional Epstein-related documents will be released or when further disclosures might occur.
