What we know about the Epstein files

Yahoo

3 days ago

Federal prosecutors amassed millions of records during the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
The question of what is actually in those pages — and whether the public will ever see them — has become central to a growing public relations crisis for President Donald Trump and his aides.
Having said it would release case documents, now the Justice Department is trying to staunch the public outcry from some of Trump's ardent supporters along with some Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill who believe the administration has fallen short of its transparency pledge.
It's unclear what new information, if any, is stuffed in the boxes of evidence within the Justice Department or what Maxwell would say publicly about Epstein and anyone else's connections to him.
For months, Justice Department and FBI officials have wrestled with the fact much of the material they have requires redaction to protect the identities of victims and witnesses, and people who haven't been charged with crimes, according to people briefed on the matter. That raised the prospect that releasing thousands of pages covered with black ink for the redactions would only inflame people who believe the government is hiding evidence of additional criminal activity.
The Epstein files are made of over 300 gigabytes of data, paper, video, photographs, and audio that live within the FBI's main electronic case management system, 'Sentinel.' These records would include investigative reports and records from the FBI Miami field division's original Epstein investigation. The bulk of the records would come from the second investigation carried out by the FBI's New York Office, including memorandums about the investigation and potential targets, locations to be searched, records to be subpoenaed, and hundreds of pages of '302s' which are the forms that FBI agents use to memorialize what witnesses, victims and suspects said in interviews by investigators.
A large cache of records has already been made public through unsealing civil court cases, Maxwell's criminal trial, and news reports. Politicians, including Trump, and celebrities have been publicly linked to Epstein for years — sometimes by appearing in flight logs or at events — and all have denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein's death by suicide before trial launched conspiracy theories and deprived many of his accusers a public airing of his conduct. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking minors following a four-week trial in 2021. She is appealing.
The Justice Department asked federal judges to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Epstein and Maxwell cases. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met Thursday with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, in Tallahassee, Fla.
'If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,' Blanche said in a post on X.
Blanche's post stands in contrast with the July 8 memo that was intended to close the books on the Epstein matter. In that memo, the Justice Department and FBI declared that they had done an exhaustive review and had determined that 'we did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.'
Here's what we do and don't know about the Epstein records:
Grand jury
The Justice Department has asked two federal judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts from Epstein and Maxwell's criminal cases. Former federal prosecutors say the transcripts likely contain a miniscule amount of evidence from the investigations.
Federal prosecutors in New York generally call law enforcement agents to testify before the grand jury to present just enough evidence they need to support an indictment. Other witnesses, including accusers, are rarely called in to testify before federal grand juries in New York.
The judges overseeing the two cases in New York asked DOJ for more legal argument for why they should unseal grand jury material, which is rarely done, and set deadlines that extend to August 5.
Already one effort has failed. A federal judge in Florida denied DOJ's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from its 2005 and 2007 investigations into Epstein, stating the department didn't meet the legal hurdle to do so under the rules governing the circuit.
The DOJ request is narrow: It isn't seeking to unseal all information that was derived from the grand jury proceedings, which if sought, could include information from financial institutions, emails or text messages, and returns from any other person or institution that was subpoenaed by the grand jury.
Search warrants
Federal prosecutors and the FBI obtained a trove of information during the searches of Epstein's homes in Florida, New York and Little Saint James, Epstein's private Caribbean island. That information is under the control of DOJ and is not blocked from public release by secrecy rules.
FBI officials recovered thousands of nude and seminude photographs of young females, including at least of one minor, in a search of his Manhattan mansion in the days following his arrest. Binders of CDs containing the photos were seized. Agents used a saw to open a safe that had more than $70,000 in cash, 48 loose diamond stones, one as large as 2.38 carats, and a large diamond ring.
They also collected documents from the New York home, including notes, messages with names and contact information for certain victims, and phone records.
A search of Epstein's private island was conducted days after he was found dead in a jail cell about one month after his arrest. By then the investigation had shifted its focus to any co-conspirators of Epstein.
In February the Justice Department provided an index of evidence it has. The index includes over two dozen computers, numerous hard drives, at least two cell phones, and four iPads. The index says there are boat trip logs potentially of who traveled to his private island — that information has not been made public.
The Justice Department does not release child pornography so those records would not be expected to be made public under any circumstance.
Florida DOJ case file
Federal prosecutors in New York obtained the investigative record from the earlier investigations into Epstein conducted by their counterparts in Florida in 2007 and 2009. Any of those records that were not covered by grand jury secrecy rules could be released.
Civil lawsuits
Much of the public record relating to Epstein has derived from civil lawsuits brought by accusers, some filed under their own names and others using Jane Doe pseudonyms. Judges have ordered the release of thousands of pages of documents, including depositions taken under oath.
Among the famous names referenced in those documents are Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, French modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, American investor Glenn Dubin, and Leslie Wexner, the CEO of L Brands. Not all of them were accused of wrongdoing, and all of them have denied any wrongdoing.
Maxwell trial
Maxwell's four-week criminal trial was a public airing of her close relationship to Epstein and her role recruiting, grooming and at times participating in the sexual abuse of minors with Epstein. Four women testified about being sexually assaulted when they were minors.
Epstein's former pilot testified and identified people he saw on Epstein's plane, including Trump, Senators John Glenn and George Mitchell, Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey, and violinist Itzhak Perlman. The pilot said he never saw any wrongdoing.
Gawker first published a copy in 2015 of Epstein's so-called 'black book' with names and phone numbers of his contacts. The Justice Department released a redacted version of it earlier this year as well as copies of the flight logs that were made public during Maxwell's criminal trial.
The release was criticized by some of Trump's supporters because the information was already public — and did nothing to answer lingering questions.
CNN's John Miller contributed to this report.