DOJ has not released some Epstein files related to a woman who made an allegation against Trump

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has not released summaries and notes of three separate interviews conducted by the FBI with a South Carolina woman who claimed she was a victim of sexual assault by Jeffrey Epstein and who also made sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump, according to an NBC News analysis of Epstein’s files and information provided by a source close to the investigation.

Those files are also not included in the unredacted collection that members of Congress can view at the Justice Department, according to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

The woman came forward to federal law enforcement shortly after Epstein’s 2019 arrest with a lengthy description of how he molested her on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, when she was 13, around 1984, according to a summary of the FBI interview released by the DOJ.

The FBI determined that the woman’s initial allegations against Epstein were significant enough that he followed her for interviews on four separate dates: July 24, 2019, August 7, 2019, August 20, 2019, and October 16, 2019, according to a catalog of evidence in the case against Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, that was released by the DOJ. The interviews with the woman were included in this catalog.

But only the FBI summary of the July 24, 2019, interview is included in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department.

The July 24, 2019 interview includes allegations of repeated sexual abuse by Epstein and does not mention the allegations against Trump.

But a source close to the investigation confirmed to NBC News that the Hilton Head Island Epstein survivor is the same person who further alleged she was forced to perform a sex act with Trump when she was 13 in New Jersey.

It is unclear whether the sexual abuse allegations against Trump were discussed in other interviews that were not released by the DOJ.

Asked for comment, the White House referred to a statement issued last month by the Justice Department when the Epstein files were released. The Justice Department’s statement at the time said: “This production may include false or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as anything sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that meets the law. Some of the documents contain false and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI just 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 already been used as a weapon against President Trump.

On Wednesday, a Justice Department spokesperson provided this statement in response to a question about the missing documents: “As we have always said, all compliant documents have been produced, those that do not fall into one of the following categories: duplicate, privileged, part of an ongoing federal investigation. »

Trump’s alleged assault was mentioned in an August 2025 document prepared by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The document summarized claims reported to the National Threat Operations Center in which Trump was mentioned. Most of the claims were either deemed not credible or made by people who provided no contact information.

The alleged assault is mentioned separately in an FBI presentation summarizing the entire Epstein case.

By the time the summary was released along with a slew of other documents on January 30, the White House responded by pointing reporters to a DOJ press release that said: “This production may include false or falsely submitted images, documents, or videos, as anything sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that complies with the law.” Some of the documents contain false and sensationalist allegations against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI just before the 2020 election. The claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a modicum of credibility, they certainly would have already been used as a weapon against President Trump. »

The law requiring disclosure of the Epstein records allows the Justice Department to withhold records that contain information about victims, documents about child sexual abuse, and that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or pending prosecution. It prohibits the withholding of documents “on the basis of embarrassment, reputational damage, or political sensitivity, including from any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

The South Carolina woman filed a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate in 2019, according to court records and Epstein records released by the DOJ.

NBC News is not naming the woman. NBC News reached out to an attorney who has previously represented the woman but has not received a response.

Independent journalist Roger Sollenberger and NPR were the first to report the missing files.

The White House provided a statement to NPR regarding the missing files related to the accusations against the president: “Just as President Trump has said, he has been completely exonerated on anything related to Epstein,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told NPR in a statement. “And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Records Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democratic friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him. Meanwhile, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they are seeking money and meetings with Epstein after he was convicted as a sex offender.”

In an interview, Garcia said he went to look at the unredacted records at the Justice Department on Monday and was unable to locate any of the missing files, even in unredacted form — which he said is a violation of both the Epstein File Transparency Act as well as the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena issued to the Justice Department in August 2025 for all Epstein-related documents.

“There is certainly, in my opinion, evidence of a cover-up. Why are these documents missing? These documents that I have personally seen, I know who the survivor is, the name is redacted in the document, in the manifest document, and there are documents missing from the same survivor that appeared to be interviews or conversations, again, appear to be with the FBI,” he said. “The FBI clearly investigated, and now those documents are gone.”