The U.S. Justice Department has released previously withheld FBI interview reports linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case that include uncorroborated allegations made against Donald Trump during a 2019 investigation.
New Documents Released in Epstein Case
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has released three previously withheld FBI interview reports connected to the long-running investigation into convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein. The documents relate to a woman who made allegations in 2019 claiming she was abused by former U.S. President Donald Trump during the 1980s when she was a minor.
According to officials, the interview summaries - known as FBI “302 reports” - were initially left out when millions of pages of documents tied to Epstein were made public earlier this year. The DOJ explained that the reports had been mistakenly classified as duplicates of other materials already included in the massive document release.
How the Documents Were Discovered
In a statement shared on social media, the Justice Department said the error was uncovered during a detailed internal review of the files.
Officials stated that one previously published FBI 302 report appeared in a spreadsheet of released documents, but several related reports had been incorrectly coded as “duplicative.” After the issue was brought to the department’s attention, investigators reviewed other files with the same classification and discovered that 15 documents had been mistakenly labeled.
The DOJ has not provided a full explanation for why the records were marked as duplicates, though it suggested the issue may have been caused by human error during the organization of the massive archive.
As of Thursday evening, the public database containing the Epstein documents still does not include handwritten notes taken by FBI agents during the interviews.
Details from the FBI Interviews
The newly released reports reveal that the FBI interviewed the woman four times between July and October 2019. Her identity has been redacted in the documents.
During those interviews, she made several allegations about Epstein, claiming she had been sexually abused by him on multiple occasions. According to the first report, she said she had originally been hired for what she believed to be a babysitting job. However, when she arrived, there were no children present, and she alleged that Epstein abused her.
She told investigators that similar incidents occurred on several other occasions.
In later interviews, the woman claimed that Epstein once took her on a trip to either New York or New Jersey during the early-to-mid 1980s. She said that during this trip, Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump when she was between 13 and 15 years old.
According to the report summarizing that interview, she alleged that Trump abused her during the visit.
However, in a later interview conducted in October 2019, the woman declined to provide additional details about the alleged interaction when questioned further by FBI agents.
Questions About the Timeline
The timeline described in the reports has raised questions. The alleged incident was said to have occurred in the early or mid-1980s, a period when Epstein and Trump were not believed to be in regular contact.
Additionally, the woman told investigators that several alleged incidents involving Epstein took place in South Carolina, a location not widely known to have been frequented by Epstein during that time.
The timing of the claims would also place the alleged events roughly two decades before law enforcement authorities in Florida began investigating Epstein for sexual exploitation of minors.
Trump Denies Any Wrongdoing
Donald Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to Jeffrey Epstein or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.
In earlier statements, Trump said he had distanced himself from Epstein years before the financier’s crimes became widely known. The Department of Justice also noted in a previous statement that some documents included in the Epstein archive contained claims that were unverified.
According to the DOJ, certain materials submitted to the FBI before the 2020 U.S. presidential election contained allegations that investigators considered unsubstantiated.
The department emphasised that the claims included in those documents had not been proven.
Political Reaction to the Document Release
The release of the additional records has also sparked political reactions in Washington. Before the documents were made public, several Democratic lawmakers accused the Justice Department of withholding information related to the Epstein case.
California Representative Robert Garcia criticized the delay and called for transparency regarding the documents.
He argued that the files should have been released earlier and demanded answers from the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding why they were not initially included in the public archive.
The DOJ has maintained that the omission was the result of an administrative error rather than an attempt to conceal information.
Continuing Scrutiny of Epstein Records
The Epstein document archive continues to attract significant public attention as investigators, journalists and lawmakers examine thousands of pages of records related to the financier’s activities and connections.
Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges involving minors, died later that year in a New York jail while awaiting trial. His case triggered widespread scrutiny of powerful figures who had previously associated with him.
The newly released reports add another layer to the complex and controversial history surrounding the Epstein investigation, though officials stress that the allegations described in the documents remain uncorroborated.
Source : ABC News
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