The US Department of Justice has released additional documents linked to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The files include FBI memos describing interviews with a woman who made abuse allegations involving Epstein and former US president Donald Trump.
Officials said these documents were not part of earlier Epstein file releases that began in December. According to the justice department, the records had initially been withheld because they were mistakenly marked as duplicate files.
The newly released material describes several FBI interviews conducted in 2019. During these interviews, a woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and by Trump in the 1980s when she was a minor.
The woman reportedly contacted the FBI shortly after Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. However, authorities never filed any charges related to her claims.
Investigators also noted that the allegations remain unverified. Some details in the woman’s statements reportedly contradict known information about Epstein’s activities and timeline during the early 1980s.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein. He has also said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.
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Responding to the new reports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected the claims and said the accusations were completely without evidence.
She said, “completely baseless” and added that the allegations are “backed by zero credible evidence”.
“The total baselessness of these accusations is also supported by the obvious fact that Joe Biden’s department of justice knew about them for four years and did nothing with them – because they knew President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong” Leavitt said. “As we have said countless times, President Trump has been totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein Files.”
Earlier in January, the justice department had also addressed similar claims. Officials said “some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims 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 have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the department added.
The justice department explained that after reviewing public criticism about missing records, it found that 15 documents had been incorrectly coded as duplicates.
Officials also said five prosecution memos from the Southern District of Florida were initially marked as privileged but were later cleared for release after sensitive information was protected.
“Additionally, the Southern District of Florida separately determined that 5 prosecution memos that were initially marked as privileged could be released while still protecting the privileged materials” they said. “All 20 of these documents are now live”.
The latest release comes at a time when political tensions around the Epstein files are increasing. Last week, Democratic lawmakers launched an investigation into whether the justice department intentionally withheld some documents related to allegations involving Trump.
Meanwhile, five Republican members of the House oversight committee joined Democrats in voting to subpoena US attorney general Pam Bondi. Lawmakers want her to answer questions about the investigation into Epstein and the handling of document releases.
The release of more Epstein documents is likely to keep the issue in the headlines. Even though the claims are unverified, political debates may continue. The controversy could also increase pressure on US authorities to explain how the files were handled.
