On the marketing campaign path, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance promised their supporters that they’d launch the Justice Division recordsdata associated to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein if elected.
Donald Trump listens as first woman Melania Trump speaks at a signing ceremony for the “Fostering the Future” govt order within the East Room of the White Home on November 13, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures
Since then, nonetheless, the administration has been reluctant to expose extra particulars concerning the investigation or launch all the recordsdata, angering some Republicans and Democrats and elevating questions on Trump’s previous connections to Epstein.
Here’s a timeline of the key occasions surrounding the Epstein recordsdata saga since Trump returned to workplace.
Feb. 21, 2025
In an interview with Fox Information, Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi was requested concerning the record of Jeffrey Epstein’s shoppers and if the Justice Division was planning to launch them.
Bondi responded, “It’s sitting on my desk proper now to overview.”
On this Aug. 25, 2025, file photograph, Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi speaks throughout a information convention in New York.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Pictures, FILE
The legal professional basic clarified in July that she was referring to the Epstein case recordsdata, and never an alleged consumer record.
Feb. 27, 2025
The Justice Division invitations conservative bloggers and influencers and shares with them binders labeled “The Epstein Recordsdata: Part 1.” A lot of the proof had already been launched to the general public.
On this Feb. 27, 2025, file photograph, political commentator Rogan O’Handley, aka DC Draino, TikToker Chaya Raichik, conservative activist Scott Presler, commentator Liz Wheeler and conservative political commentator Chad Prather carry binders bearing the seal of the US Justice Division studying “The Epstein Recordsdata: Part 1” as they stroll out of the West Wing of the White Home in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson/AFP by way of Getty Pictures, FILE
Bondi and her workforce didn’t inform White Home officers upfront that she deliberate to distribute the binders, sources with details about the occasion advised ABC Information.
Might 8, 2025
The Home’s Activity Drive on the Declassification of Federal Secrets and techniques demanded the discharge of the Epstein recordsdata in a letter to Bondi.
Bondi didn’t reply to the request earlier than the Might 16 deadline.
July 7, 2025
The DOJ and FBI launched a joint assertion that said a overview of its holdings uncovered no proof of any consumer record stored by Epstein or different proof that might predicate a legal investigation of any uncharged events.Â
The division additionally launched hours of purported footage as a part of its overview, which officers say additional confirmed Epstein died by suicide whereas in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.
The video from the Bureau of Prisons displaying the moments earlier than Epstein’s demise was later decided to have been lacking footage. A number of conservative influencers slam Bondi and the Justice Division over the memo.
July 12, 2025
Trump defended Bondi in a social media put up amid the pushback from some in his MAGA base over the dealing with of the Epstein probe.
Trump praised Bondi for doing a “incredible job” and urged his “boys” and “gals” to cease criticizing her.
July 15, 2025
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna search a Home vote for a discharge petition to launch the Epstein recordsdata.
Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson walks from the chamber to talk with reporters after the ultimate vote to carry the longest authorities shutdown in historical past to an finish, on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The identical day, Home Speaker Mike Johnson referred to as on Bondi to “come ahead and clarify” her dealing with of the probe.
Signatures for the petition proceed to develop, nonetheless, don’t attain the 218 wanted to maneuver ahead.
Requested what Bondi advised him concerning the overview of the Epstein recordsdata and if his title appeared in any respect, Trump responded, “No, no, she’s given us only a very fast briefing,” earlier than making baseless claims that the recordsdata had been created by a few of his political foes.
“No matter she thinks is credible, she ought to launch,” Trump mentioned.
July 24-25, 2025
Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche, Trump’s former private legal professional, interviewed Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction on intercourse trafficking and different fees associated to Epstein’s illicit actions.
Relations of Virginia Giuffre communicate throughout a rally in assist of the victims of disgraced financier and intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein outdoors the U.S. Capitol, on Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures, FILE
Maxwell initiated the assembly, a number of sources advised ABC Information.
A month later, the Justice Division launched a transcript of the interview, which was not underneath oath, the place she claimed there was no consumer record.
Aug. 1, 2025
Maxwell was transferred from a federal jail in Florida, which is labeled “low safety” to a federal jail camp in Texas, which is labeled “minimal safety,” the Justice Division introduced.
Sept. 8, 2025
Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee launched a 238-page PDF doc of the fiftieth birthday e-book to Epstein that features a prologue by Maxwell and a web page allegedly written by Trump.
On this Sept. 17, 2025, file photograph, Rep. Jamie Raskin references an alleged drawing by Donald Trump made for Jeffrey Epstein’s fiftieth birthday, as FBI Director Kash Patel testified in the course of the Home Judiciary Committee listening to titled “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” in Rayburn constructing in Washington, D.C.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc by way of Getty Pictures, FILE
Trump’s web page includes a typed letter written inside a doodle of a girl’s physique, together with his signature situated in a provocative spot on the physique.
The president denied that he wrote and signed the letter.
Nov. 12, 2025
Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee launched emails that had been a part of greater than 20,000 from the Epstein property.
A few of the messages present Epstein speaking about Trump, together with one the place he claimed Trump “spent hours at my home” with one of many sex-trafficked victims.
On this Sept. 8, 2004, file photograph, Jeffrey Epstein is proven in Cambridge, Mass.
Rick Friedman/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures, FILE
The White Home accused Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee of releasing “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a pretend narrative” about Trump.
Later that night, Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn into workplace, a month after she received a particular election, and have become the ultimate signature on the discharge petition to get it over the 218 threshold.
Johnson introduced that he would carry a invoice to launch the Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata to a vote on the ground subsequent week.
