DOJ Releases Damning Epstein Files Implicating Trump Right Before Christmas
The US president has been named in the latest tranche of documents and images released.
by Peter Chappell, Tom Witherow, George Grylls, Washington Correspondent, Andrea Blanco, US Reporter
What you need to know
Thousands more documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein have been released
Ghislaine Maxwell sought to procure “intelligent, pretty and fun” women “from good families” for her friend “Andrew”
The files relate to federal investigations into Epstein’s sex-trafficking operations in Florida and New York. Inclusion in the files is no indication of wrongdoing
The Department of Justice said the files included “untrue and sensationalist claims” about President Trump
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FBI sought Andrew interview over ties to Peter Nygard
The FBI filed a formal request in 2020 to interview Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor about his links to a second millionaire sex offender.
Investigators in the US wanted to interrogate the then-prince’s ties to the Canadian fashion tycoon Peter Nygard, 84, who has been accused of raping girls as young as 14 in a group action civil case.
“The investigation has revealed that, on at least one occasion, Prince Andrew travelled to Nygard Cay in the Bahamas, a location where Nygard is believed to have trafficked minor and adult female victims,” the letter said.
The FBI wanted to know if Mountbatten-Windsor had seen any girls under 18 at the property, and whether he knew their names. They said that if he declined a voluntary interview, they requested UK authorities to “conduct a compelled interview of the witness under oath”, but that he was not a target of the investigation.
Nygard, who denies child abuse, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women in Toronto between the late 1980s and 2005. Mountbatten-Windsor, who has denied any wrongdoing, has been contacted for comment.
Trump flew on Epstein’s jet more than DoJ was aware of
Trump flew on Epstein’s jet with the paedophile and a 20-year-old in the 1990s, according to a January 2020 email exchange between federal prosecutors.
In an email, a prosecutor acknowledged that Trump had flown on Epstein’s jet many more times than the justice department had been previously aware of.
“On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and [a] then 20-year-old,” the email read. “On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Epstein’s ‘last girlfriend’ approached by investigators
Karyna Shuliak, Epstein’s “last girlfriend”, was approached by investigators after he called her from prison. A memo shows that Shuliak, a dentist from Belarus and in her thirties at the time, said she “wanted a lawyer” who later told agents that she was prepared to discuss the “content of the phone call but she wants some kind of protections”.
The pair’s relationship began shortly after Epstein was released from a Florida jail in 2010 for procuring a minor for prostitution.
“It sounds like the girlfriend is willing to talk sooner rather than later, so whenever someone is assigned to the new investigation, we can put him or her in touch with that agent for whatever follow-up is appropriate,” wrote an assistant US attorney in the southern district of New York in August 2019.
Prisons bureau documented possible Epstein suicide attempt in July 2019
A memo from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in July 2019 details a “possible suicide attempt” by Epstein. It says that Epstein (inmate number 76318-054) had been found in the “fetal position on the floor of his cell wearing a T-shirt and boxers. He was breathing heavily and was snoring. His neck was red with no abrasions”.
Later, when he woke, Epstein claimed that his cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, had “attempted to kill him and had been harassing him”.
Epstein told prison officers that his “bunkie” had attempted to “extort him”.
Trump: Everybody was friendly with Epstein
President Trump reacted to the first tranche of files on Monday by claiming he only befriended the late paedophile because Epstein “was all over Palm Beach”.
“A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago. “But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined a reputation of somebody.
“They give you their photos of me too. Everybody was friendly with this guy, either friendly or not friendly, but he was around. He was all over Palm Beach. But you probably have pictures of other people being exposed that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago.”
Trump also said he “hated” to see pictures of Bill Clinton in the files. Clinton and Trump have denied any wrongdoing.
Photo of Epstein’s fake passport released
The files include a photo of an Austrian passport in a fake name that Epstein used to enter several countries in the 1980s.
It was found along with tens of thousands of dollars in cash and loose diamonds inside a safe at Epstein’s New York city townhouse.
Alongside a photo of Epstein is the name Marius Robert Fortelni. It says he is an Austrian citizen born in Vienna and lists Saudi Arabia as his place of residence.
Prosecutors first disclosed information about the passport to the public in 2019, about a month before Epstein died in prison.
At the time his lawyers claimed he had obtained the passport to protect himself from “potential kidnappers, hijackers or terrorists”.
Andrew’s lawyer accused DoJ of ‘gathering publicity’
Gary Bloxsome, who was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyer during the Epstein investigation in February 2020, wrote to the US justice department accusing it of seeking to “gather publicity”.
Insisting that Andrew, then Duke of York, was happy to co-operate with investigators on a confidential basis, Bloxsome wrote: “In England it would not be thought to be in the interests of justice for any prosecutor or investigator to make public statements about witnesses who may be willing, in confidence, to assist their investigation.”
Ruling out Mountbatten-Windsor’s contribution, he added: “When we complained about the way the duke (and we) had been treated by the DoJ, you refused to apologise and you have now also gone back on your promise that any arrangements for the interview will be confidential. We cannot advise the duke to speak to prosecutors who cannot be trusted to deal with him fairly.”
FBI warned about the Countess of Iveagh
The files reveal that on June 30, 2020, Michael Manley, the National Crime Agency’s liaison officer at the British embassy in Washington, wrote to US counterparts to raise allegations surrounding Clare Hazell, then the wife of the 4th Earl of Iveagh, the Guinness brewery heir.
In a letter bringing the matter to the “attention of the FBI”, Manley wrote that Hazell, then president of the West Sussex branch of the NSPCC, had faced an internal investigation by the children’s charity to determine whether she remained “suitable to hold the position of president”.
The NCA said that it did “not hold any derogatory information” on Hazell who, it wrote, was a “close contact” of Epstein.
Grim details emerge about Epstein’s abuse
The files shed new light on Epstein’s abuse of children. An internal memo between two FBI officers reports that one victim had said Epstein “asked her opinion about putting heads of adult females on child bodies and masturbating to the image”.
Maxwell sought to procure women for ‘Andrew’
Ghislaine Maxwell sought to procure “intelligent, pretty and fun” women “from good families” for her friend “Andrew”, according to newly released emails.
The correspondence shows Maxwell planning a trip to Peru for a friend saved in her contacts as “The Invisible Man” in 2002.
In a message to a contact in Peru, who was to act as a tour guide, she asked for “two-legged sightseeing” to make her friend “very happy”.
• Read article in full: Ghislaine Maxwell sought ‘fun girls’ for ‘Andrew’ in Peru
Epstein: ‘Our president shares our love of young girls’
A letter Epstein sent to Larry Nassar, a fellow convicted sex offender, was included in the documents released Tuesday.
Nassar, the former team doctor for the US national gymnastics team, is serving a prison sentence after being found guilty of molesting girls for decades.
The letter discussed the two men’s “love & caring for young ladies”. It was returned to the sender.
The letter has been public knowledge since 2023, but has now been released for the first time. It includes an apparent reference to President Trump — he is not mentioned by name, but was in office at the time the letter was sent.
“Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls,” it states.
Trump has denied wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Rape allegation against Trump mentioned in files
One document from October 27, 2020, describes a tip submitted to the FBI.
The caller told the FBI about a conversation with a limousine driver who claimed they had chauffeured Trump through Dallas in 1995.
The chauffeur supposedly overheard a conversation in which Trump “continuously stated the name ‘Jeffrey’ while on the phone, and made references to ‘abusing some girl’”.
Later, the caller quoted another person, who name was redacted, as saying: “Donald J Trump had raped her along with Jeffrey Epstein.”
The document says: “[Redacted name] noted some girl with a funny name ‘took me into a fancy hotel or building, that’s how it happened’.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Maxwell complained about ‘unbearable’ conditions in jail
The conditions of Maxwell’s life in prison prompted her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, to write to justice department officials to complain.
“The combination of cold, moisture, and sewage stench have made confinement in her cell unhealthy, unbearable, and utterly unreasonable,” she wrote. “Her request for an extra blanket has been denied. Her request for use of her day mug for water has been denied. (She’s been told to cup her hands to drink water from the faucet.)”
She added: “Trust me when I way that in my 35 years of federal criminal practice, having represented individuals charged and convicted of terrorism and capital murder … I have never witnessed such inappropriate and outlandish treatment of a non-violent pretrial detainee”.
In August this year, Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence, was moved from a Florida prison to a minimum-security facility in Texas.
Files include timeline of night Epstein died
The files released include hundreds of documents and correspondence from within the prison service relating to Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 death in a prison cell.
The documents include an internal timeline of the night he died. At midnight Epstein “waves at officer” conducting a prisoner count. Later official counts at 3am and 5am were not conducted.
“Officer asked if conducted 30 minute checks; didn’t respond, just put her head down. Second Officer refuses to discuss,” the internal timeline reads. Epstein was found dead in his cell shortly after 6:30am.
Fake video of ‘Epstein’s suicide’ in files
The new files contain a fake video that appears to show Epstein’s suicide in a Manhattan jail cell. The 12-second video was part of the tranche of new information because it was sent to the FBI in 2021 by a person asking officers if it was real.
In his email, the individual said he was documenting “a substantial cover-up of a suicide scandal” at another prison. They finished the email with: “Busting government pedophiles since 1987. Epstein was a friend of a friend (although never heard of him until after).”
The Justice Department has previously released footage of the hallway outside his cell — showing nobody entered before he was found dead. The tranche includes a chain of custody log that describes a “homemade noose”, according to the Washington Post.
‘Invisible Man’ told Maxwell: I’ll leave the girls to you
“The Invisible Man” who wrote to Maxwell about “inappropriate friends” also said to her on February 28, 2002, in response to an offer of a guided tour of Peru: “I am overwhelmed at the kindness and generosity of the offers that are being made for me. I would love to do them all but fear that there would not be enough time!”
He said that although he did not like the idea of riding on his visit to Latin America, he would like to visit archaeological sites. “As far as food is concerned I am very easy and will fit in with whatever he plans and I don’t mind what time it is at all. As for girls well I leave that entirely to you.” He concludes: “Masses of love A xxx”
Files contain ‘untrue and sensationalist’ claims about Trump
The Department of Justice wrote on X of the latest release: “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 weaponised against President Trump already. Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the [department] is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”
Epstein’s last will and testament
Among the documents released is Epstein’s will, signed in the US Virgin Islands in 2003, which stipulates that the estate’s executors should receive $100,000 each for their services.
Epstein ‘lived his life through address books’
The testimony of one former worker at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion reveals how both he and Maxwell lived their lives through address books.
“It was a bit bigger than a big iPhone,” a former staff member writes, “very thick, and contained a lot of names”. The books, which were to be placed on the right hand side of telephones according to house rules, contained the names of “friends and employees”, the former worker said in a witness statement.
“Prince Andrew’s name was there,” the statement said. “Donald Trump‘s name was there. Each page had a name, address, company, phone numbers for different homes.”
Another document at the mansion outlined the tasks expected of domestic workers. A witness remembered “seeing this manual for the first time when a duchess from England came. She was a woman who was supposed to be royalty and supposed to teach the staff how to properly maintain a house.”
• Katy Balls: What the release of the Epstein files means for Trump — and what happens next
Emails question Maxwell’s marital status
One heavily redacted email chain from US officials who appear to have access to flight records outlines the travel plans of Maxwell’s siblings.
It says that her brother Kevin Maxwell travelled from to Boston from London in February 2020 while her other brother Ian travelled to London from Boston in December of 2017. The recipient in then asks in July 2020 for more information about Maxwell’s marital status. “Thanks very much! Somewhat related, are you able to determine whether Maxwell is married? And in particular whether she is married to Scott Borgerson?”
Borgerson has been widely described as Maxwell’s ex-husband and is a former US Coast Guard officer and self-described “entrepreneur and climate realist” from Boston, Massachusetts. The email, however, suggests they were never married. “No problem!” one person writes. “The only Marriage license for Scott Borgerson was on 5/19/2001 to Rebecca Piorunneck. Checks for Ghislaine Maxwell (in very state) were negative.”
‘Psychopath’ Maxwell demonstrated ‘a complete lack of remorse’
In one email from December 2020, a statement from one of Ghislaine Maxwell’s victims was prepared for the court in her bail hearing.
The woman’s statement read: “She has lived a life of privilege, abusing her position of power to live beyond the rules. Fleeing the country in order to escape once more would fit with her long history of anti-social behavior.
“I believe that she is a psychopath … she has demonstrated a complete failure to accept to responsibility in any way for her actions and demonstrated a complete lack of remorse for her central role in procuring victims for Epstein. She was both charming and manipulative with me during the grooming process.”
Maxwell was denied a £21 million bail package, and was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse children.
Victim ‘had nightmares about Epstein coming after her’
The latest files also revealed the impact of Epstein’s actions on victims. One email sent by an assistant US attorney in Florida on February 1, 2008, to recipients including an Alex Acosta, likely to be the attorney for southern Florida at the time, reads: “We just finished interviewing three of the girls. I wish you could have been there to see how much this has affected them.
“One girl broke down sobbing so that we had to stop the interview twice within a 20 minute span. She regained her composure enough to continue a short time, but she said that she was having nightmares about Epstein coming after her and she started to break down again, so we stopped the interview,” the email reads.
Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting a prostitute in 2008 and served 13 months in prison, in a controversial plea deal in that he avoided the more serious punishment for sex trafficking. Alexander Acosta, later President Trump’s labour secretary, has been criticised for his role in brokering the deal.
Officials tried to track down names on passports
Justice department officials sought to track down names on passports found at Epstein’s mansion.
In July of 2019, an assistant US attorney at the Southern District of New York wrote that one passport found at Epstein’s property had the name “Marius Fortelni”, who was originally from Austria but living in Southampton, New York.
“If it’s possible, could we determine Marius Fortelni’s birthday, and see if it matches up with the date on the passport? And then try to contact him and ask if he has any reason to know why a passport from his native country with his name on it would have Jeffrey Epstein’s photograph on it and be in a safe in Epstein’s mansion??”
Videos among files released by justice department
‘Factual inaccuracies’ in Andrew’s account of the past
A US attorney said public statements about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should not “rehash all of the various factual inaccuracies in his account of the past”, newly released emails show.
As officials sought Andrew’s co-operation in their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, an unnamed attorney from New York told the former southern district of New York attorney Geoff Berman on June 8, 2020: “Geoff — as discussed, I’ve put together a short proposed statement responding to the press release issued by Prince Andrew’s counsel this morning.
An image of Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell at Sandringham, with the rest of the faces redacted, was released by the Department of Justice on Friday
UU. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AP
“If we do issue something in response, as you’ll see, I would recommend we keep it short and forward looking, rather than trying to rehash all of the various factual inaccuracies in his account of the past.
Andrew’s legal team had released a statement before the email in which they said he had on “at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness” to the Department of Justice.
Missed chances to stop Epstein
The authorities may have missed the chance to stop Epstein as early as 1996.
A document release on Saturday corroborated the claim of Maria Farmer that she reported Epstein to the FBI in Miami in 1996 for stealing pictures of her sisters, then aged 14 and 16, after he asked her to take photographs of young girls at swimming pools. Farmer was recorded as telling the FBI that she believed Epstein sold the photographs and threatened to “burn her house” down if she told anyone.
Farmer claimed in 2019 that she was sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell at the home of Les Wexner, an executive at the Victoria’s Secret lingerie company. A spokesman for Wexner previously said he had “severed all ties with Epstein in 2007 and never spoke with him again” and had no knowledge of the incident Farmer alleged.
Tranche includes official communications before Epstein’s death
Before Epstein died in his prison cell in 2019 a senior US marshal in the southern district of New York wrote: “Associate Warden (AW) at MCC New York advised that Jeffrey EPSTEIN was found in his cell this morning at 0127 hours in a fetal position with a noose around his neck. EPSTEIN was escorted to medical and was assessed.”
The message continued: “EPSTEIN was initially placed on suicide watch and subsequently downgraded to suicide observation, where he currently remains. Additionally, AW advised that EPSTEIN’s cell mate reportedly threated to kill him. No further information was provided. The above incident is currently under investigation with the BOP [Bureau of Prisons].”
‘Introduce him to friends who will be discreet and fun’
In March 2002, Maxwell, writing from the address “gmaxl@mindspring.com” sends a message to “The Invisible Man”, forwarding a message she had sent an acquaintance.
“I just gave Andrew your telephone no,” she wrote to the other person. “He is interested in seeing the Nazca Lines,” she wrote, apparently referring to the archaeological site in Peru. “He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses”.
Then she adds: “Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and that you will only introduce him to friends that you can trust and rely on to be friendly and discreet and fun”. She warns the potential tour guide: “He does not want to read about any trip in the papers whom or what he saw”.
Photo of Epstein’s passport released
Pictures of Epstein’s old US passport have been released among the 11,000 documents. It was issued in February 1985 and expired in 1995.
‘Sorry, I have only been able to find appropriate friends’
A few days later Maxwell replies: “So sorry to dissapoint you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends.” She signs off her message: “Kisses Gx.”
The man responds, on August 18: “Distraught!” He then writes that he lost his valet that week. “He had been with me since I was 2,” the message says. “I am a little off balance as not only has my office been restructured, I have left the RN and now my whole life is in turmoil as I have no one to look after me. He was a real rock and almost a part of the family”. He adds: “If you have any good ideas as to how to get my mind back on track I’d be grateful for advice. See you real soon… I hope if you are coming over. A xxx”
Files include email to Maxwell ‘from Balmoral’
The latest disclosures include a series of emails written between Ghislaine Maxwell and “The Invisible Man” with the email address abx17@dial.pipex.com.
In August 2001, the man who signs his messages “A” writes to Maxwell: “I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family.” He says he is “totally exhausted”, asking Maxwell how she is. Then he writes: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends? Let me know when you are coming over as I am free from 25th August until 2nd Sept and want to go somewhere hot and sunny with some fun people before having to put my nose firmly to the grindstone for the Fall”. He concludes: “Any ideas gratefully received! See ya A xxx”
Files show Epstein’s depravity
The files contain unsettling details of Epstein’s crimes and his sexual interest in young girls. A witness allegedly tasked with finding masseuses for Epstein said: “There were a few girls he wasn’t crazy about. He didn’t really like.” The witness said Epstein rejected a woman who was 23 as “too old”.
According to a handwritten note of an interview in May 2019, Epstein was “asking for ID to girl, wanted make sure under 18 b/c he wasn’t believing them b/c [redacted] messed up by bringing more older girls”.
The witness, who has identified herself as Marina Lacerda, noted that: “JE [Epstein] didn’t want Spanish or dark girl[s]”. Lacerda, now 37, told the Daily Telegraph that Epstein stopped abusing her when she was 16 or 17 because she was too old and not bringing him girls who were young enough.
Release follows trove detailing allegations against Epstein
Lurid allegations against Jeffrey Epstein were set out in a previous trove of thousands of documents released by the US Department of Justice.
The release will intensify scrutiny of the network of powerful men cultivated by the paedophile financier. The set released today contains an even larger number of files.
Among the revelations detailed in the documents released are files showing the tycoon insisted that identity checks to ensure those sent to perform massages and sex acts were of school age and met other specific demands including being “thin and blonde”.
A grand jury interview with an FBI agent in May 2007 included the claim that a 15-year-old girl was recruited to give “topless” massages to Epstein.
The agent said the witness recruited other masseurs and “Epstein liked girls like her, which is thin and blonde and attractive”.
Thousands of Epstein files released
The US Department of Justice has released the largest tranche of files relating to the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein so far.
The release follows a law passed by Congress that mandates the release of all the files by Friday.
This latest batch contains thousands of documents as well as images and other investigative material.
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