The Department of Justice held back key FBI interview materials from the extensive Epstein files archive, including records tied to a woman who said President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her when she was underage, according to investigations by CNN and NPR.
A CNN analysis found that more than 90 FBI witness interview documents appear to be absent from the more than 3 million pages released by the DOJ beginning in December 2025. Among the missing materials are three interviews with a woman who told federal agents that Jeffrey Epstein abused her repeatedly starting when she was roughly 13 in the early 1980s, and who also accused President Trump of assaulting her during that time.
The DOJ made the files public after President Trump enacted the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, 2025, which mandated disclosure of all investigative records related to the convicted sex offender. Epstein died in federal custody on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the House Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, described the missing records as potentially criminal. “We have a survivor that made serious allegations against the president,” Garcia told CNN. “But there’s a series of documents, and it would appear to be possible interviews, that the FBI conducted with the survivor that are actually missing, that we don’t have access to.”
The woman reached out to the FBI hotline around July 10, 2019, after identifying Epstein from a photograph. Federal agents interviewed her four times over several months in 2019, generating more than 50 pages of notes. Only the first interview was included in the public release, and that document was heavily redacted.
Independent reporter Roger Sollenberger initially spotted the inconsistency by comparing serial numbers from evidence logs provided to Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys with files posted on the DOJ website. Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, was convicted in December 2021 on five sex-trafficking-related charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The evidence log lists roughly 325 FBI witness interview files, yet more than a quarter are missing from the public collection. The missing documents represent interviews conducted in several states, including New York, Washington, Oregon, and Georgia.
A DOJ spokesperson denied that any documents were removed. “We have not deleted anything, and as we have always said, all documents responsive were produced,” the spokesperson stated. The agency said excluded records were duplicates, privileged, or related to ongoing investigations.
President Trump has repeatedly denied any misconduct related to Epstein and said last week that the files had “totally exonerated” him. The White House described the allegations as “false and sensationalist.”
The release of the Epstein files has faced serious criticism from investigators and survivors. Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter whose reporting exposed much of Epstein’s network, told PBS NewsHour that the redactions highlight ongoing inequities. She argued that shielding the identities of powerful men while revealing some victims’ names shows “two systems of justice in this country.”
Andrew McCabe, former FBI deputy director and CNN contributor, stressed how vital witness interview files are to building criminal cases. “It’s the most basic and important brick in the wall that becomes the investigation,” McCabe said.
The DOJ’s 3.5 million–page release involved more than 500 attorneys and reviewers who spent weeks analyzing material from six major sources: the Florida and New York cases against Epstein, the New York case against Maxwell, probes into Epstein’s death, a Florida case involving Epstein’s former butler, various FBI investigations, and an Office of Inspector General review. The release also included over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
Garcia said Oversight Committee Democrats will launch an inquiry into the missing files. “Covering up direct evidence of a potential assault by the President of the United States is the most serious possible crime in this White House cover-up,” the California lawmaker said.
The issue has prompted global attention, with The Guardian reporting that the United Kingdom has taken more aggressive steps toward institutional accountability regarding Epstein’s network than the U.S. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince stripped of his titles, was arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office based on revelations from the files.
Survivors of Epstein’s crimes voiced frustration over the incomplete disclosure. “All of us have been looking for our victim statements,” said Jess Michaels, one of Epstein’s victims. She accused the Justice Department of “gaslighting the entire country.”
