The New York Times this week published an exclusive article that claims that key documents related to a sexual assault allegation against Donald Trump, dating to the “mid 1980s”, are missing from the voluminous Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice.
NYT cites its own analysis of the official index of investigative materials that have been made public, showing, as it purports, an absence of several FBI memos related to the testimony of a woman who appeared in 2019 to claim she was assaulted, as a minor in the 1980s, by both the late financier and convicted sex offender, but also by the then-future president.
No confirmation of the claim or evidence to back it up has been provided.
The issue relates to one of most sensitive parameters involving the mega-cache of documents, ordered after the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act – which imposed transparency on the Epstein files.
Newly-released documents from disgraced late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, here including a redacted phone message for Epstein saying “I have a female for him,” are seen in this handout released by the U.S. Justice Department and printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
When the US Justice Department released millions of pages of materials in late January 2026, it guaranteed that cache included all documents sent by the FBI. The official release pointed out that the papers also included “sensationalist and unsubstantiated” allegations against Trump, submitted in the run-up to the 2020 election, which he lost as the incumbent to Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.
According to the New York Times, one of the fiercest media critics of the current US president, the public index of records indicates the existence of four FBI interviews conducted with the female accuser in 2019. Of these, only the summary of the first, focusing on the allegations against Epstein, has been published.
The other three interview reports, along with the underlying investigative notes, are absent, the paper claims. The NYT analysis of the serial numbering of available pages alleges that more than 50 pages of material related to the explosive Epstein investigation are not included in the public files.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act provides for the possibility of withholding information that could identify potential victims, depict child pornography or compromise ongoing investigations. The text expressly prohibits withholding documents for reasons of embarrassment, reputational damage or political sensitivity of public figures. This point has been criticized by some lawmakers and Epstein’s victims, who have denounced what they deem as the inconsistent application of the disclosure criteria.
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, while a White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, reiterated that the president has been “totally exonerated on any matter related to Epstein”.
