The Epstein files are thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. These documents, which include travel logs, recordings, and emails, have been a topic of conversation since Epstein’s death in 2019. In November 2025, three emails, obtained from the Epstein estate, seemed to indicate that U.S. Pres. Donald Trump had knowledge of Epstein’s sex-trafficking practices. Trump has long denied any knowledge of Epstein’s misconduct. On November 18, the House voted 427–1 to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which the Senate also passed and the president signed.
On December 19, 2025, in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Department of Justice released hundreds of thousands of documents. Those files included some never-before-seen photographs of former U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton and other celebrities but otherwise were heavily redacted, drawing criticism from Democratic and some Republican lawmakers as well as Epstein survivors. A subsequent release of some 30,000 pages of documents included mentions of Trump flying on Epstein’s plane in the 1990s. On January 30, 2026, the Justice Department released some three million more documents, saying that would be the last significant disclosure.