For nearly two decades, victims have felt let down when it comes to accountability for Jeffrey Epstein and his potential sex trafficking masterminds. Their supporters fear this week will be no exception.
Pam Bondi explains Justice Department’s plans to release Epstein files and open new investigation
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would release the Epstein files within 30 days of President Donald Trump signing the transparency bill.
The onus to release the so-called “Epstein files” by Dec. 19 falls on Attorney General Pam Bondi, a senior Trump administration official who has already reversed course once on transparency regarding Jeffrey Epstein.
Victims’ attorneys and some lawmakers told USA TODAY they aren’t confident Bondi can provide fair transparency, especially when it comes to associates of a sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
Spencer Kubin, a Florida lawyer who has represented several of Epstein’s alleged victims for nearly two decades, said survivors “are now being asked to trust a process without independent review by the agency at the direction of the president contained in the documents themselves.”
Under the law passed by Congress, the attorney general must release Justice Department records regarding Epstein’s criminal activities, legal settlements, and individuals involved in Epstein-related investigative proceedings. The exceptions to this obligation are narrow. Bondi is authorized to protect material that identifies victims, depicts abuse, jeopardizes ongoing investigations, or is classified.
Mr. Bondi once seemed eager to release the files. She told Fox News host Sean Hannity on March 3 that members of the Biden administration did not believe in transparency or honesty regarding the files, but that with the new administration, “everything will be made clear to the public.”
But in May, Bondi reportedly told President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, that his name was on the file. In July, the Justice Department announced it would not disclose anything further.
Following backlash to the announcement, lawmakers called on Mr. Bondi to force the Dec. 19 mandate.
“If they don’t make it all public, we’re going to have to reconsider and we’re going to have to pass more bills on the floor,” Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told USA TODAY.
The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Holes in Epstein Transparency Act?
Lawyers pointed to exceptions in the Epstein Transparency Act as an area the Justice Department could exploit to avoid a bipartisan full release. For example, the Department of Justice may temporarily withhold information if releasing the information would jeopardize an active investigation.
That shouldn’t be a problem, according to the department’s July memo. The department said it had reviewed the file on Epstein but “found no evidence” that would justify investigating the person, who has not been previously indicted.
But after Congressional Democrats released emails alleging that Epstein “knew the girls,” Trump posted on social media in November that he would ask the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s relationships with prominent Democrats. In a public post, Bondi said he had appointed prosecutors who would “take the lead,” and the department would “proceed with an investigation with urgency and integrity to provide answers for the American people.”
That could mean that the Justice Department now says there is already a public investigation underway. And nothing prevents investigators from opening yet another location.
“This is a very broad exception,” former Manhattan federal prosecutor Sarah Krisoff told USA TODAY. “Opening a file is the easiest thing in the world.”
The Transparency Act also allows the Justice Department to withhold material related to child sexual abuse and personal information, including the victim’s identity, from the public.
These protections for victims are critical, multiple survivor lawyers said. But Kuben said he also worries that the Justice Department will shield perpetrators by labeling them victims.
“Those involved are now trying to avoid responsibility by protecting themselves in the name of ‘survival’,” Kuben said. “One of my clients was brought to his home and solicited by someone who now claims to be a survivor.”
The law also allows the Justice Department to withhold classified national defense information, but it must notify Congress of any classified information after July 1.
Why is public trust in Epstein so low?
Lawyers for victims have questioned whether the Justice Department will take full responsibility, given its long history of investigating Epstein’s crimes.
In the 2000s, law enforcement identified many underage girls that Epstein allegedly sexually abused. Federal law enforcement agencies have drafted an indictment that includes potential charges of sex trafficking of minors and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. If convicted on these charges, Epstein could spend decades in prison.
Instead, Alex Acosta, the chief federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, worked out a deal in 2007 that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to two state prostitution crimes the following year and serve just 18 months in prison. He ultimately served 13 months in prison, during which time he received a generous work release allowance. The agreement included a clause that protected Epstein’s accomplices from future prosecution, of which the victims were only informed after the fact. Trump later appointed Acosta as U.S. Secretary of Labor during his first presidential administration.
The Miami Herald’s extensive coverage of the deal in 2018 drew attention to Epstein’s alleged crimes and led to Acosta’s resignation. Epstein’s close contact over the years with celebrities including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and former Prince Andrew has fueled speculation that the sex offender was protected to protect other powerful people. Trump, Clinton and the former crown prince, who was stripped of his royal titles in 2025 in the wake of the Epstein scandal, all deny wrongdoing.
In 2019, Epstein was jailed in New York on federal sex trafficking charges. However, before the case could go to trial, he was found dead in a Manhattan jail. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, and the Justice Department upheld that conclusion in July. Still, speculation is swirling online that Epstein could have been killed to silence him.
For the first time since Epstein’s death, federal law enforcement has arrested and charged his ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, with crimes that occurred in the 2000s. She was convicted of charges including sex trafficking of minors and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
No one has been charged in connection with Epstein, apart from modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who was found hanged in a detention center after being charged with supplying minors to Epstein in France.
“At this point, the victims don’t believe anything the federal government says or does, and they have good reason not to,” said Kubin, who has represented several alleged victims, including a 14-year-old girl who spoke with authorities in the mid-2000s.
“It’s a big part of who’s going to be out.”
Before the last presidential election, Trump was at a loss as to what to announce about Epstein. In a June 2024 interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” he said he would “go to great lengths” to allow the files to be declassified. But he also added, “I don’t think so much, because if there’s fake stuff in there, you don’t want it to affect people’s lives, because there’s a lot of fake stuff in this world.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly poured cold water on the idea of full transparency since Mr. Bondi reportedly told him in May that he was included in the file and the Justice Department announced in July that it would not disclose any more out of concern for victims.
At a July 8 Cabinet meeting, after a reporter asked Bondi about the “remaining mystery” surrounding Epstein, the president said, “Are people still talking about this guy, are they still talking about this creep? It’s unbelievable.” President Trump said the question was a “blasphemy” given other issues facing the country.
On July 15, President Trump told reporters that the file was “fabricated” by people who opposed him, naming former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well as former FBI Director James Comey.
Later the same day, he expressed frustration with continued interest in Epstein.
“It’s vile but boring and I don’t understand why this keeps happening,” he said. “But let them give us information that is reliable. Any information that is reliable, we want them to give us.”
On July 17, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump sent Epstein a snarky birthday letter on his 50th birthday in early 2003. President Trump called the letter a “fake” on social media and sued the newspaper’s publisher for defamation the next day.
On November 14, after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails in which Mr. Epstein claimed he “knew these girls” and said, “I’m the one who can bring him down,” Mr. Trump posted on social media that he would ask the Justice Department to investigate Mr. Epstein’s relationships with prominent Democrats, including Mr. Clinton.
Bondi quickly responded with a social media post thanking President Trump and asking Justice Department officials in Manhattan to “take the lead.”
Congress overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Transparency Act by a narrow margin that could override a presidential veto. But President Trump signed the bill into law on Nov. 19, crediting him with strong support from Congress and posting on social media: “Maybe the truth about these Democrats and their connection to Jeffrey Epstein will come out soon.”
Despite the Trump administration’s past resistance, California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, a co-sponsor of the Epstein transparency bill, told USA TODAY that he sees the Justice Department making efforts so far. He noted that the Justice Department has successfully asked multiple judges for permission to release grand jury materials from the criminal cases against Epstein and Maxwell.
“I’m not going to jump to the conclusion that they won’t comply until I see what they come out with,” Khanna said.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer for many of Epstein’s alleged victims, said he would like to believe there will be a bipartisan release this time, but that the Trump administration “has shown itself to be perhaps the most politically motivated administration we’ve ever seen in many ways.”
“I think it’s going to be very picky in terms of who gets outed and who doesn’t get outed. Unfortunately, it’s going to be based on politics,” Edwards told USA TODAY.
Could the Department of Justice have destroyed the documents?
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are also concerned that the documents may be lost by the time they are released. They asked the Justice Department’s acting inspector general to conduct an audit of government-held documents tracking the Epstein file to ensure that the materials to be released are the same as those collected by law enforcement.
Schiff told USA TODAY he has not yet received a response to that request.
“We want to be confident that the government has no intention of suppressing these files, documents, recordings and photos for any reason other than to protect the privacy of the victims,” he said.
Brittany Henderson, a lawyer with the same firm as Edwards who represents many of the alleged victims, told USA TODAY that victims have been used as political pawns throughout the controversy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. She hopes the release of the files prevents history from repeating itself.
“Transparency should mean transparency. It should be on both sides of the aisle. It should be everyone,” Henderson said.
