More Epstein files are released and include some references to Trump

The Department of Justice released more files related to the investigation of financier Jeffrey Epstein late Monday, making public thousands of documents that included emails from prosecutors, unverified tips and records from Epstein’s death in a New York City jail.

It was the latest batch in a slow drip that began Friday, the deadline that Congress had set for the release of all the files in connection with the investigation. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, has said the files will be released over the coming weeks.

The documents contained hundreds of references to President Donald Trump, who was a friend of Epstein’s before they had a falling out, a New York Times search found. A majority of the references were mentions in media reports or other material that had been included in the files, but some were focused on the president.

In one email, dated January 2020, an unidentified Manhattan federal prosecutor said he or she wanted to make the recipient aware that flight logs showed Trump had flown on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”

The email went on to say that Trump was a passenger on Epstein’s plane on eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including two with possible witnesses in the criminal case against Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges in Manhattan federal court in 2021.

Passengers on another flight included only Epstein, Trump and a 20-year-old, the email said. On other flights, Trump flew with Marla Maples, his former wife; his daughter Tiffany; and his son Eric.

The names of the potential witnesses, as well as the email’s sender and recipient, were redacted. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. During an appearance at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida earlier Monday, Trump tried to distance himself from Epstein and said the issue was meant as a political distraction.

“This whole thing with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has,” Trump said.

Trump also complained that the release of the files could damage the reputation of people who appear in the files but who have not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. “A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined a reputation of somebody,” Trump said.

The documents also showed that Manhattan federal prosecutors subpoenaed Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for employment records in connection with Maxwell’s case.

The release contained a wide mix of documents, including blacked-out pages of Maxwell’s tax returns, tips to the FBI and internal communications at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the Manhattan jail where Epstein died.

Thousands of documents that were made public Friday and over the weekend included photos of Bill Clinton, the former president, with Epstein, and testimony from the grand jury proceedings in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell.

Trump said he hated to see images of Clinton in the files, even though he previously ordered his Justice Department to examine any potential links between Epstein and Clinton.

The release of the files had been long awaited by those who believed the materials could shed light on Epstein’s activities and his ties to prominent and powerful men. Some victims and their advocates criticized the batch released Friday as heavily redacted and containing few revelations.