The Harsh Lessons of Jeffrey Epstein
There’s a rule in journalism: when someone refuses to answer a question, that silence often speaks louder than any answer could, especially when the subject happens to be Jeffrey Epstein. Since Epstein’s death in 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has been doing a lot of not-answering lately.
The shadows surrounding Epstein, his victims and others alleged to be a part of the crime ring, gather as close and thickly as they did since his demise. How can the public fully know what is within the files, and what is the collective way forward as the light uncovers more uncomfortable truths?
Reports: Missing Files
In an NPR investigation, corroborated by CNN’s own review and other major media sources, has uncovered something troubling buried inside the massive Epstein file release — dozens of pages are missing. Not misplaced. Not accidentally overlooked. Missing.
Some of those missing pages relate directly to sexual abuse accusations against many political and celebrity figures, including the former Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom.
Let that sink in for a moment. Even Epstein’s death remains a mystery – should we expect anything else regarding his connections and where they may lead?
What the DOJ Did and Did Not Release
Back in January 2026, the Justice Department published what it described as a sweeping, transparent release of Epstein-related files — over 3 million pages in total. It was framed as accountability in action. The kind of moment where sunlight, as they say, is the best disinfectant.
NPR’s investigation found that dozens of pages catalogued within the DOJ’s own internal serial numbering system never made it into the public database. CNN’s parallel review of evidence logs provided to Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense attorneys found that out of roughly 325 FBI witness interview records, more than 90 — over a quarter — simply aren’t there.
Among the missing documents? Three FBI interview records tied to a woman who claims Epstein abused her starting at around age 13, and who has also accused Trump of assault.
Sets of Allegations
The first woman reportedly called an FBI hotline in July 2019, just days after Epstein’s arrest. She told agents that Epstein had abused her repeatedly at a South Carolina property after he responded to a babysitting ad she’d posted. She was approximately 13 years old when it began.
During her first FBI interview — the only one currently available in the public database — she showed agents a photo of Epstein alongside Trump. Her attorney, notably, explained that the image had been cropped because she feared retaliation from “well-known individuals.” FBI records confirm she was interviewed four times. Only the first interview, which doesn’t mention Trump, has been made public.
The DOJ’s Non-Answer
When NPR asked the Justice Department about the missing files, the department declined to answer on the record. After the story was published, a spokesperson insisted that any documents not released were either duplicates, privileged, or related to an ongoing investigation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to Congress on Feb. 14, insisting that nothing was withheld “on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
The White House, for its part, pointed to Trump’s broader record of cooperation with Epstein-related inquiries. “President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told NPR. The administration also noted that Trump “has been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.”
Congress Starts Asking Questions
Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the DOJ following NPR’s report.
“Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes,” Garcia stated.
Democrats on the committee have now opened a parallel investigation specifically into the DOJ’s decision not to release these particular documents — a notable escalation that signals this story is far from over.
The Harsh Lessons of Jeffrey Epstein
Lost in the political noise are the people who have the most at stake: the survivors.
Jess Michaels, who was assaulted by Epstein at 22, told CNN that victims have been searching the DOJ’s website for their own interview records, only to find nothing. “All of us have been looking for our victim statements,” she said. The missing and mishandled documents, she argued, mean that “this Department of Justice is actually gaslighting the entire country.”
Epstein victim Haley Robson wrote directly to a federal judge, calling the DOJ’s incomplete release a personal failure.
“As survivors, this failure is not merely procedural — it is deeply personal,” she wrote. “Continued noncompliance perpetuates the same secrecy that allowed these crimes to continue unchecked for years.”
Why This Matters
This isn’t a story about partisan point-scoring, even if it’s being filtered through that lens by both sides. It’s a story about a federal law — the Epstein Files Transparency Act — that seeminlgy appears to have been selectively enforced by the very department responsible for enforcing laws.
The DOJ has insisted it’s working “around the clock” to address concerns. That may well be true. But there’s a difference between working to fix redaction errors and working to decide which truths the public is allowed to access.
For the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse — many of whom have waited years, even decades, for some measure of accountability — that distinction is everything.
