Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Jeffrey Epstein client list
Alleged list of clients of American sex offender From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
A hypothesized document allegedly contains the names of high-profile clients to whom American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly trafficked young girls. Epstein cultivated a social circle of public figures that included politicians and celebrities, fueling conspiracy theories suggesting that he maintained such a list to blackmail these associates—and that his 2019 death was not a suicide (as officially reported) but a murder to protect his clients.
.jpg)
Claims surrounding the existence of a client list first surfaced in the immediate aftermath of Epstein's death, later reaching heightened prominence in 2025 following a now-deleted tweet from former White House advisor and Department of Government Efficiency associate Elon Musk alleging that United States president Donald Trump was among the names listed. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump floated the idea of releasing the Epstein Files, though he has since said that they are simply fabrications by the members of the Democratic Party. The United States Justice Department (DOJ) released a memo on July 7, 2025, which stated the list did not exist and "no credible evidence [was] found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties." The memo was met with skepticism from people on the political far-right, like Alex Jones,[1] and the political left, like John Oliver.[2]
Remove ads
Background
Summarize
Perspective
Convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein cultivated a social circle of public figures that included politicians and celebrities.[5] This fueled conspiracy theories that Epstein kept a list of clients to whom he had trafficked young girls, that he used it to blackmail them, and that he was killed by them; these theories were disseminated widely after Epstein's 2019 death, including by then-president Donald Trump,[6] and again in 2025.[7][8]
The term "Epstein files" refers to documents collected as evidence in the criminal cases against Epstein and his associates, including his contacts book, flight logs of his planes, and court documents; some of them have been publicly released in redacted form.[9][10] For example, court documents and flight logs have contained various prominent individuals as having traveled with Epstein, or been in contact with him.[11]
"Epstein's black book" or "Epstein's little black book" refers to a 97-page book of names, phone numbers, emails, and home addresses a former employee took from Epstein's home in 2005 and later tried to sell. Gawker published a redacted version in 2015, and an unredacted version was released on 8chan in 2019.[12][13][14][15][clarification needed] A second book of contacts, sometimes referred to as "Epstein's other little black book", was published by Business Insider in 2021, and is dated October 1997.[16]
Trump's relationship with Epstein
Trump and Epstein were long-time friends before their friendship fell apart in 2004. Trump once suggested he had known Epstein since the late 1980s ("I’ve known Jeff for 15 years", he told New York magazine in 2002).[17] In 1992, businessman George Houraney brought in 28 people he described as "girls" to perform in a "calendar girl" competition at Mar-a-Lago. Trump had asked for the party, and Houraney, after planning it, was surprised to learn that Trump and Epstein were the only guests.[18] In 2002, speaking to New York magazine, Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."[17] Other testimonies about their friendship have been registered, including Epstein's brother Mark, who stated that Epstein had said that he "stopped hanging out with Donald Trump when he realized Trump was a crook,"[19] but they had been close, refuting Trump's assertions that he "was not a fan" and Steven Cheung's statement that "The President was never in Epstein's office…" concerning the accusation of one of Epstein's victims who mentioned having had a "disturbing" encounter with Trump in Epstein's office, in 1995.[20]
In 2003, Trump was one of several contributors to a bound album of birthday greetings given to Epstein on his 50th birthday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's letter to Epstein was a drawing of a naked woman and an imaginary conversation between the two, including the phrase "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey", with Trump's signature located as if it were pubic hair.[21] The Journal did not publish a copy of the letter, and Trump immediately denied having written such a letter.[22]
After that, their friendship cooled.[17] Reasons given have included:
- In 2000, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend complicit in his sex trafficking, hired 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who would become one of Epstein's victims, as his masseuse.[23] Giuffre had been working for Trump in the Mar-a-Lago spa. In 2025, Trump told reporters that Epstein "stole people that worked for me ... I threw him out".[24] The next day, Trump confirmed he had been referring to Giuffre: "taking people that work for me is bad. ... I told him [Epstein], I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people' ... not too long after that [hiring Giuffre], he did it again and I said, 'Out of here.' ... He, he stole her."[25] These statements yield an unclear timeline, as Epstein hired Giuffre in 2000 but Trump did not cancel Epstein's club membership until 2007.[26]
- In 2004, Trump outbid Epstein on an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, which Trump later sold to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev.[27][28][a]
- In June 2007, Epstein was indicted for sex crimes.[33]
- In October 2007, Trump revoked Epstein's membership at Mar-a-Lago. According to the 2016 book Filthy Rich, the teen daughter of a Mar-a-Lago member told her father that "while relaxing at Mar-a-Lago, she'd been approached and invited out to Epstein's house. The girl said that she had gone and that Epstein had tried to get her to undress. The girl's father had gone directly to Trump, who—in no uncertain terms—told Epstein that he was barred from Mar-a-Lago."[34][page needed] The 2020 book The Grifter's Club recounted a similar reason,[35] and Brad Edwards, an attorney for a number of Epstein’s victims, told The New York Times that Trump told him this in 2009.[36] Trump assured campaign aide Sam Nunberg before starting his presidential campaign in 2015: "I kicked him out of the clubs [Mar-a-Lago] when this stuff became public, and I made sure NBC knew" (as Nunberg recalled in 2019 for the New York Times).[18]
On July 28, 2020, Jonathan Swan interviewed Trump. Pointing out that Ghislaine Maxwell had been "arrested on allegations of child sex trafficking", Swan asked Trump why he had recently said "I just wish her well." Trump replied that he do not know Maxwell had been arrested. When Swan said that Trump did indeed know about Maxwell's arrest, Trump said: "I'd wish you well, I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty. ... And I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her. I'm not looking bad for anybody. And they took that and made it such a big deal..." Swan repeated that Maxwell was "an alleged child sex trafficker." Trump said: "But all it is is her boyfriend died."[37]
Commentary
Elon Musk @elonmuskTime to drop the really big bomb:
@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
Jun 5, 2025[38]
Lawyer and law professor Alan Dershowitz said in an interview with Sean Spicer on March 19, 2025, that he knew the names of individuals on such a list and unreleased files relating to Epstein, adding that "I know why they're being suppressed. I know who's suppressing them" and that he was "[...] bound by confidentiality from a judge and cases, and I can't disclose what I know".[39][8] Dershowitz had been part of the legal team that negotiated a non-prosecution agreement for Epstein in 2006.[8]
Former Trump senior advisor Elon Musk, newly feuding with Trump, tweeted on June 5, 2025, claiming that Trump's name was in the Epstein files and that this "is the real reason they have not been made public".[40][41] Musk deleted the post two days later.[42] On June 11, he posted: "I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far."[43]
On July 15, Epstein's former attorney David Schoen, who helped him secure a plea deal in 2008, said: "I don’t believe for a second there’s a client list out there."[44]
Podcaster Joe Rogan has said that the administration's reversal and newfound refusal to release the Epstein files is a "line in the sand", especially for those who supported Trump's presidency based on this issue.[45][46] According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump was told in May by the Justice Department that his name was found in the files.[47]
Remove ads
January 2024 partial release of the Epstein files
Summarize
Perspective
After Epstein's death on August 10, 2019, New York judge Loretta Preska ordered the unsealing of documents from a defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.[48] Anyone that had their name contained in these documents had until January 1, 2024, to appeal to have their name removed, after which date the documents would be unsealed.[49] The court documents unsealed in January 2024 contained little information that had not already been public knowledge.[50] Individuals mentioned in the released court documents include: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, former US president Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, singer Michael Jackson, and physicist Stephen Hawking. Most were mentioned in passing and not accused of any wrongdoing.[5][51] Model scout Jean-Luc Brunel, accused of sexual abuse by one of Epstein's victims,[51] had died by suicide in 2022 in Paris, France, while under investigation for the rape and sex trafficking of minors.[52]
Subsequent comments from Trump and his affiliates
During the presidency of Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025, many right-wing figures, including Trump allies, hypothesized of a list of Epstein's clients not disclosed by the Biden administration. Kash Patel, who was not yet the director of the FBI at the time, stated that the FBI was withholding information on Epstein, and encouraged a potential administration of Donald Trump to release them if he were to be elected. During the Turning Point Action convention in June 2024, Donald Trump Jr. accused the Biden administration of keeping the list secret to protect pedophiles. In October 2024, JD Vance said "we need to release the Epstein list".[53]
Trump, on the other hand, rarely mentioned the Epstein files, but did not refute his allies' claims.[54] On two occasions during his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to release the Epstein files. In a June 2024 interview with Fox News, when asked whether he would declassify them, Trump responded, "Yeah, yeah, I would." The clip was shared by an official Trump campaign account on Twitter. The unedited answer aired later shows Trump saying he was not sure he would because "you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because it's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world".[55][56] In a September 2024 interview with Lex Fridman, Trump stated he would have "no problem" releasing additional Epstein files and would "probably" make the client list public.[57][56]
Remove ads
2025 Department of Justice involvement
Summarize
Perspective
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked on February 21, 2025, by Fox News journalist John Roberts whether the Justice Department would publish "the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients," and Bondi replied: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that."[58][59] On February 27, she released documents that contained no significant new information.[60]
Faced with outcry from a disappointed public, Bondi demanded that FBI Director Kash Patel provide the extensive material she had originally requested from him.[61] Michael Seidel, the section chief of the FBI's Record/Information Dissemination Section, objected to Bondi's order and was forced to resign.[61]
The FBI worked on Epstein records for two weeks during late March, according to Senator Dick Durbin. He later wrote that Bondi had
pressured the FBI to put approximately 1,000 personnel...on 24-hour shifts to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records in order to produce more documents that could then be released on an arbitrarily short deadline. This effort...was haphazardly supplemented by hundreds of FBI New York Field Office personnel, many of whom lacked the expertise to identify statutorily-protected information regarding child victims and child witnesses or properly handle FOIA requests. My office was told that these personnel were instructed to "flag" any records in which President Trump was mentioned.[60][62]
In the documents, the FBI found dozens of high-profile names, including Trump's. A unit of FOIA officers, citing exemptions in FOIA law, redacted Trump's name because, although he was then a sitting president, he had been a private citizen when the 2006 federal investigation into Epstein began.[61]
On May 18, Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told Fox News that Epstein had died by suicide.[63]
In May, Bondi informed Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein files. She also said that the files contained "unverified hearsay" about Trump and others, child pornography and identifying information on Epstein's victims. As such, officials advised that the files should not be disclosed. This was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on July 23. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung denied the allegations, and Bondi said that "As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings".[64][65] The day it was reported, Bondi canceled her appearance at CPAC's International Summit Against Human Trafficking.[66] According to Politico, "[f]ollowing the reported briefing in May, Trump appears to have sought to narrow the government's public disclosures to avoid releasing information."[67]
On June 6, the Joe Rogan Experience aired an interview with Kash Patel who said of the Epstein matter, "We've reviewed all the information, and the American public is going to get as much as we can release. He killed himself. ... Do you really think I wouldn't give that [video evidence] to you, if it existed?"[68]
On Sunday, July 6, 2025, Axios first reported[69] that the United States Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI had concluded in a memo that they had no evidence that Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a "client list", or was murdered, according to a two-page DOJ memo and a video supporting a medical examiner’s finding that Epstein committed suicide.[58][70] The DOJ released the memo on July 7,[71] saying there was no list and "no credible evidence [was] found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties". It also said that Epstein's death was a suicide, contradicting other suspicions. It said it would not release any more documents relating to Epstein.[72][73] The memo was met with skepticism from several right-wing activists and influencers, including the Hodgetwins, Alex Jones, Rogan O'Handley, and Liz Wheeler,[7][58] and from Democratic representatives.[74]
That same day, when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked what Bondi had meant when she said in February that the material was on her desk, Leavitt responded that Bondi had been referring more generally to the accumulated evidence against Epstein. Leavitt explained that Bondi had been referring to "the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper, in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, that's what the attorney general was referring to, and I'll let her speak for that".[75] At a cabinet meeting the next day, as Trump criticized reporters for focusing on the Epstein case, Bondi clarified that she had been referring to the whole case file rather than to any client list allegedly within it.[76][77]
At a July 9 meeting that included Bondi, Bongino, Patel, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Bongino and Patel were confronted on this decision, according to CNN. Bongino reportedly considered resigning in the wake of the meeting[78][79] but remained in his role. Bondi was criticized by many in the MAGA movement.[80][81][82]
On July 16, the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, the federal prosecutor who had prosecuted Epstein. She is the daughter of James Comey, the FBI Director whom Trump fired in 2017.[83]
July 2025 interview of Ghislaine Maxwell
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell on July 24 and 25 at the U.S. attorney's office in Tallahassee.[84][85] Maxwell, having been sentenced to 20 years, was incarcerated at the time at FCI Tallahassee.[86] She was given limited immunity in the interviews, meaning that her answers to her interviewers' questions cannot be used against her as long as she told the truth.[87] Blanche is Trump's personal lawyer and his political appointee. The previous year, Blanche had referred to Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, as a "friend."[88] Maxwell reportedly told Blanche that Trump had never behaved inappropriately in her presence.[89] The interview was recorded; the existence of the audio recording was first reported on August 5, and the Justice Department was reportedly considering releasing it.[90]
On July 25, when a CNN reporter asked Trump whether he planned to pardon Maxwell, he answered noncommittally: "I'm allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven't thought about."[91] On August 1, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed that, following the interview, Maxwell was transferred[92][93] to Federal Prison Camp, Bryan in Bryan, Texas,[94] a minimum security facility with dormitory-style housing generally considered less unpleasant than other federal prisons.[95][96] The White House told reporters that Maxwell had received no "preferential treatment" and suggested that her move was routine.[97] Counterarguing that the move was unusual, Senator Jack Reed on August 8 asked the director of the Bureau of Prisons to explain.[98]
Remove ads
In court
Summarize
Perspective
On July 17, 2025, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
"Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!"[99]
In a same-day reply, Bondi posted to Twitter: "President Trump—we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts."[100] The grand jury transcripts are not expected to contain new information for the public.[101]
The Justice Department made a request to unseal some of the Florida grand jury documents. On July 23, Judge Robin Rosenberg said because the request was not part of a legal proceeding she could not legally grant the request only based on "extensive public interest". Instead, she ordered that a new case be opened.[102]
On August 5, Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers said she opposed the release of the grand jury records; they called it "a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy" given that Maxwell still had "legal options" and "due process rights".[103]
On August 8, the Justice Department asked two federal judges to release the grand jury exhibits as well as the transcripts.[104]
Remove ads
In Congress
Summarize
Perspective
Jamie Raskin and 15 other members of the House of Representatives penned a letter to Bondi accusing her of withholding documents so as to protect Trump from potentially damaging disclosures. They cited Musk's earlier tweet accusing Trump of being "in the Epstein files".[105]
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives began an effort to, according to Axios, "force a House vote on making Attorney General Pam Bondi release all records related to Jeffrey Epstein" with Ro Khanna and Marc Veasey stating they intended to introduce separate measures.[106] Khanna's measure failed in the House; it was rejected 211–210, along party lines.[107]
Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie sought a majority of House members to sign a discharge petition to force a vote on whether to release the files. However, on July 21, 2025, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not allow a vote until September,[108] and the next day he put the House into a five-week recess, canceling other planned votes.[109] He said the Trump administration should "have the space to do what it is doing".[110]
On July 23, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell, requiring her to be deposed on August 11 at FCI Tallahassee.[111] Her attorney responded that she would testify only if she received the questions in writing in advance and if the lawmakers granted her immunity from further prosecution, or else if President Trump were to grant her clemency so that she could be released from prison.[112]
On August 5, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed former President Bill Clinton, former Justice Department officials, and the Justice Department itself. It demanded that the Justice Department provide the Epstein files by August 19.[113]
Remove ads
Accusers' reactions
On July 31, 2025, Giuffre's brothers, Sky Roberts and Danny Wilson, and Giuffre's sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that they wanted relevant documents to be released. Amanda Roberts added that Giuffre had also said she wanted documents to be released, saying "She wanted the world to know what they had done to her and so many other survivors." Giuffre had died by suicide three months earlier.[114]
Remove ads
Trump's reaction
Summarize
Perspective
Donald Trump @realDonaldTrumpTheir new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker. [...] Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!
July 16, 2025[115]
As of mid-July 2025, Trump's stance is that the Epstein files are falsified documents created by his political opponents, such as the Biden administration, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.[116][115]
Trump has urged the media to shift their attention from the Epstein files case to his theory involving a group including Obama, Clinton, James Comey, and James Clapper, whom he accuses of attempting to rig the 2016 and 2020 elections. He has also called on the Department of Justice to prosecute them for treason and sedition.[117]
On July 18, the day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had written a 50th birthday card to Epstein 22 years previously, Trump sued the newspaper (specifically, two reporters, owner Rupert Murdoch, and parent companies Dow Jones and News Corp) for defamation and libel.[118] On July 21, the White House removed them from the press pool for his Scotland trip.[119]
Remove ads
Notes
- In his book Siege: Trump Under Fire, Michael Wolff wrote that Epstein (whom he interviewed for his previous book Fire and Fury)[29] knew Trump "had been loaning his name in real estate deals – that is, for an ample fee, Trump would serve as a front man to disguise the actual ownership in a real estate transaction." So, after losing the auction, "a furious Epstein, certain that Trump was merely fronting for the real owners, threatened to expose the deal (...) But if Epstein knew some of Trump's secrets, Trump knew some of Epstein's. (...) Just as the enmity between the two friends increased over the house purchase, Epstein found himself under investigation by the Palm Beach police."[30] Wolff reiterated his claim that Trump's purchase of the mansion was likely a money laundering operation and that Epstein believed it was Trump who tipped the police on him, in a July 2025 video posted on Instagram.[31] A longer and more detailed testimony was presented by MeidasTouch's YouTube channel.[32]
Remove ads
See also
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads