Who is mentioned and more

The Justice Department on Friday began releasing remaining investigative files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a massive collection of court documents, correspondence and dozens of photos that had not previously been made public.

Some of the photos contained in the 3,500 files posted on the DOJ website appear to be highly sexual in nature and have been redacted. Some are labeled CSAM, which stands for Child Sex Abuse Material.

Among the elements of the file is a book entitled “Massage for Dummies” which was seized by investigators.

Epstein was indicted in 2019 in Manhattan federal court for sex trafficking of minors, many of whom he allegedly preyed on while they performed massages on him. He died while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide.

In the files, there are several photos of Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, on what appear to be trips or vacations with others.

Epstein was known for surrounding himself with wealthy and influential people and was friends with Donald Trump for many years before the Manhattan mogul was elected president. A search tool on the DOJ website turns up Trump’s name hundreds of times in the newly released documents.

And there are more than a thousand mentions of former President Bill Clinton, as well as numerous photos of Epstein with Clinton, including a series of undated photos of them with Maxwell on what appears to be a trip to Thailand.

There is also an undated photo of Clinton and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger flanking a woman whose face was obscured at an unspecified event.

And there are previously unknown photographs of Epstein with the late singer Michael Jackson and actor Kevin Spacey.

The DOJ provided no context for the photos, and NBC News has reached out to the Clinton estate, Jagger, Spacey and Jackson for comment.

Clinton has repeatedly said he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes and had severed ties with him before he was accused in 2006 of having sex with a minor. He also denied visiting the private island of Epsein in the Caribbean — a claim that was backed up by Trump confidante and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in an interview with Vanity Fair published this week.

The DOJ and FBI said over the summer that they had uncovered no evidence to warrant opening an investigation into anyone else in Epstein’s orbit.

The document also publishes an apparently new photo of Epstein holding a $22,500 novelty check that bears what appears to be Trump’s signature.

Trump and Epstein were good friends until they had a falling out about 15 years ago. But the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

The newly released documents also include some files from the FBI’s New York office dating back to 2019, when they conducted the investigative efforts that led to federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicting Epstein.

Large sections of those records, which include DMV records and grand jury subpoenas, have been redacted.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a lead sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act that mandated the release of these documents, said the DOJ has provided no explanation for blacking out so many of the documents.

“One document, 199 pages of grand jury testimony, was completely redacted,” Khanna said.

Another sponsor of the law, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), posted on

Earlier in the day, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ would release “several hundred thousand documents” and that the agency would “release more documents over the next two weeks.”

Additionally, when the documents appeared on the DOJ site, the search function allowing the public to navigate the records online appeared to not work for some users.

For weeks, the DOJ had not responded to requests for information about how and when the records would be made public, not even to lawmakers like Khanna and Massie who requested the information.

Besides Trump and Clinton, Epstein was close friends with powerful men like Ohio billionaire Les Wexner and Britain’s former Prince Andrew, among others.

Epstein died in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and the circumstances of his death fueled years of conspiracy theories, some of which were fanned by Trump himself.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to “declassify the Epstein files” if elected. And in February, his hand-picked attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced that a list of Epstein’s clients “is currently on my desk” waiting to be reviewed and released.

But the high-profile “Epstein binders” that Bondi distributed to MAGA influencers contained no client lists and turned out to be information that was already in the public sphere.

Then, in July, Trump’s core supporters erupted in anger when the DOJ and FBI announced that an exhaustive review of the Epstein case had uncovered no evidence to warrant investigation of other individuals. and despite previous commitments to transparency, they said no further information about the case would be released.

Facing open revolt from some of his most ardent supporters, Trump called demands to release the records a “Democratic hoax.”

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department to turn over the entire Epstein files to the committee in August. The DOJ ultimately turned over 33,295 pages of documents related to Epstein, most of which were already public. The committee referred to this publication as the first in a series of publications, but the DOJ did not turn over any further documents.

Demands for Trump and his Justice Department to release the remaining files have only grown.

Then, in November, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails written by Epstein in which he wrote that Trump “knew about the girls” but did not directly accuse him of wrongdoing.

Under pressure, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Records Transparency Act that Trump signed into law on November 19.

Epstein was first charged by federal prosecutors in Florida in 2006 with having sex with a minor. He ended up pleading guilty to charges against a single minor victim after entering into a secret no-prosecution deal.

The deal allowed Epstein to serve just 13 months in a Palm Beach County jail, where he was allowed out almost daily through a work release program and had his own private security.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring to sex traffic minors and is reportedly seeking a commutation of his sentence from Trump, according to a whistleblower report to Congress.