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The Justice Department’s third batch of Jeffrey Epstein files dropped Tuesday morning with nearly 30,000 pages of documents, and the contents are as damning as critics feared the administration was trying to hide.
A 2020 internal prosecutor email reveals President Donald Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported,” including at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996. One of those flights carried only three passengers: Epstein, Trump, and an unnamed 20-year-old woman.
Perhaps even more disturbing is a handwritten letter from Epstein to convicted serial child abuser Larry Nassar, the disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor now serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting hundreds of young athletes. The letter, postmarked three days after Epstein’s death in his jail cell, contains references to “our president” sharing their “love of young, nubile girls.”
The Flight Logs Tell A Different Story Than Trump Claimed
The prosecutor’s email, dated January 8, 2020 and sent during the final days of Trump’s first term, was written by an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. The message was flagged for “situational awareness” as prosecutors built their case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice who is now serving 20 years for sex trafficking.
The email directly contradicts Trump’s 2024 social media claim that he “was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island.” According to the prosecutor, flight records show Trump was listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996. Maxwell was present on at least four of those flights. Trump’s then-wife Marla Maples, daughter Tiffany, and son Eric also appeared as passengers on various trips.
Two entries stand out. On one 1993 flight, only Trump and Epstein are listed as passengers. On another, the only three passengers were Epstein, Trump, and a then-20-year-old woman whose name was redacted. The prosecutor also noted that on two other flights, passengers included “women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case.”
The email concluded with a telling line: “We’ve just finished reviewing the full records (more than 100 pages of very small script) and didn’t want any of this to be a surprise down the road.”
Epstein’s Letter To Larry Nassar: “Our Love Of Young, Nubile Girls”
Among the most chilling documents in Tuesday’s release is a handwritten note signed “J. Epstein” addressed to Nassar. The envelope bore a postmark of August 13, 2019, from a USPS facility in Northern Virginia, three days after Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The envelope was marked “return to sender” because Nassar had been transferred from the facility.
The letter opens with Epstein telling Nassar that he has “taken the ‘short route’ home,” an apparent reference to his death. He then claims that they “shared one thing… our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they reach their full potential.” The letter goes on to state that “our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls” before lamenting that both he and Nassar have been imprisoned. It concludes with the phrase “Life is unfair.”
The FBI requested a handwriting analysis to confirm whether Epstein actually wrote the letter, but the results of that analysis were not included in Tuesday’s release. NBC News noted it cannot independently verify that Epstein authored the note.
DOJ’s Preemptive Defense Of Trump
In an unusual move, the Justice Department issued a statement on X simultaneously with Tuesday’s document release that appeared designed to shield the president. The department acknowledged multiple references to Trump in the files but insisted some 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 weaponized against President Trump already,” the DOJ stated. The department did not specify which claims it was characterizing as false, though the flight log email from federal prosecutors makes no accusations of criminal conduct.
The release also includes documents showing Mar-a-Lago was subpoenaed in November 2021 for employment records relating to an unidentified person as part of the Maxwell investigation. It remains unclear whether the club complied with the subpoena or what records, if any, were produced.
The 10 Co-Conspirators Nobody Charged
Another set of documents reveals federal prosecutors identified 10 potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. Internal emails show the FBI’s Crimes Against Children Human Trafficking Unit was tracking their locations and serving grand jury subpoenas. One email noted that six had been located and served, while “the remaining 3 are currently out of pocket.” One was described as a “wealthy businessman in Ohio,” likely referring to L Brands founder Leslie Wexner, who served as Epstein’s money manager.
To date, Maxwell remains the only co-conspirator charged. The DOJ stated in July 2025 that it did not have sufficient evidence to charge any other parties in the case, a conclusion that has frustrated survivors and transparency advocates.
Congress Threatens Contempt, Impeachment
The document release comes amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Congress over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed in November, required full release of all documents by December 19. The DOJ missed that deadline and has been releasing files on a rolling basis, prompting accusations of a cover-up.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday he would force a vote on legislation directing the Senate to sue the DOJ for the complete files. Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, the bipartisan co-authors of the transparency law, are pursuing inherent contempt proceedings against Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way, to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi,” Massie said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. The inherent contempt power, last successfully used in 1934, would allow Congress to fine or even detain officials who refuse to comply with its demands.
Trump’s Shifting Response
Speaking to reporters Monday night, Trump appeared to distance himself from the documents while simultaneously defending other figures caught up in the release, including former President Bill Clinton, whose photographs with Epstein and Maxwell appeared in earlier batches.
“I like Bill Clinton. I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton,” Trump said. “I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown. I think it’s a terrible thing.”
Trump added that “everybody was friendly with this guy,” referring to Epstein, before complaining that the files were being used “to deflect from tremendous success” by his administration. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found 52 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, while about 70 percent believe the government is hiding details about Epstein’s relationships with powerful associates.
Trump has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. He has said he cut ties with the financier in the early 2000s after calling him a “creep.” However, the newly released flight logs, combined with years of photographs, social interactions, and Epstein’s own private emails referencing Trump, paint a picture of a relationship that was far more extensive than the president has publicly acknowledged.
Eighteen Epstein survivors signed an open letter Monday condemning the DOJ’s handling of the release, stating that “the public received a fraction of the files, and what we received was riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation.”