U.S. Justice Department documents released this week say President Donald Trump flew on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet far more frequently in the 1990s than previously reported, according to an internal email from a New York prosecutor included in the latest trove of files.
In a January 7, 2020 email, an unidentified prosecutor wrote that flight records showed Trump had traveled on Epstein’s jet eight times during the 1990s. The email said that at least four of those flights included Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
The email forms part of roughly 30,000 pages of documents and dozens of video clips released Tuesday as the Justice Department continues to comply with a new transparency law mandating disclosure of all Epstein-related files. The documents include extensive redactions and span years of tips, internal correspondence and materials submitted to federal investigators.
Trump has previously denied flying on Epstein’s aircraft. In a 2024 social media post, he said he was “never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island.” The prosecutor’s email does not accuse Trump of any criminal wrongdoing, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
One flight described in the newly released records listed only three passengers: Epstein, Trump and a 20-year-old woman whose name was redacted. The email also said that on two other flights, women who later emerged as potential witnesses in the Maxwell case were among the passengers.
Trump acknowledged knowing Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s but has said their relationship ended in the mid-2000s and that he was unaware of Epstein’s abuse of minors. Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution and was later charged by federal prosecutors in 2019 with sex trafficking. He was found dead in a New York jail later that year in a death ruled a suicide.
The Justice Department said the release includes claims that it considers unfounded. In a statement posted on X, the department said some of the documents contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump that were submitted to the FBI shortly before the 2020 election. It said the claims were false and lacked credibility but were being released as required by law, with protections for victims.
Among the materials made public was an internal email from 2021 stating that data obtained from the cellphone of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon contained an image of Trump and Maxwell. The department also released a grainy photograph showing Trump seated next to Maxwell at a New York fashion show in 2000, an image that has circulated publicly for years.
Other records include references to Trump in FBI tip-line calls, though the documents do not identify callers or indicate whether the tips were investigated or deemed credible. One caller claimed to have overheard Trump making remarks about abusing a girl during a limousine ride in 1995, an allegation presented without corroboration.
The release also included a video purporting to show Epstein inside his jail cell, though an examination found the clip appears to be computer-generated and previously circulated online in 2020. The Justice Department said the video was submitted by a member of the public and was not authenticated.
The disclosures come amid political fallout from the transparency law passed overwhelmingly by Congress last month, forcing the release of Epstein files despite resistance from Trump allies. Earlier batches released last week were heavily redacted, angering some Republicans and doing little to quell criticism ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump dismissed the importance of the files on Monday, telling reporters they were being used to deflect from Republican successes. Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who helped push the disclosure law, criticized the administration, accusing it of trying to shield powerful figures while failing to fully comply with legal requirements to release the documents.
