The Department of Justice is facing scrutiny after MS NOW and NPR reported that certain FBI memos and handwritten notes related to interviews in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation are not available in the public Epstein files database. According to MS NOW, at least four FBI interviews were conducted with a woman who alleged that Donald Trump sexually abused her when she was a minor. Only one memo from those interviews reportedly appears in the DOJ’s public database, and no handwritten notes have been released. The DOJ has stated that no documents have been deleted and that any temporarily removed files are restored after redactions for victims’ privacy or personally identifiable information.
Allegations and Legal Context
The woman’s allegation, according to reporting, appears in a 2025 internal FBI PowerPoint presentation summarizing Epstein-related investigations, as well as in a spreadsheet of unconfirmed tips received by the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center. Trump has never been criminally charged in connection with claims made by Epstein survivors and has said the released files have “totally exonerated” him. A law signed in late 2025 requires the DOJ to release, with limited exceptions, investigative files related to Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
Political Fallout and Official Responses
Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Democrats reviewing unredacted logs believe the DOJ may have illegally withheld FBI interview materials. He called for immediate disclosure under a prior subpoena and the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In response, the DOJ said on social media that all responsive documents have been produced unless they are duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation. The White House referred inquiries to the DOJ and reiterated Trump’s position that he has been fully exonerated in matters related to Epstein.
