Thousands of new Epstein-linked documents released

At least 8,000 new documents related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were available today on the US Department of Justice's website. Jeffrey Epstein seen in one of the photographs released by the US Justice Department last week US President Donald Trump at a press conference in his Mar-a-Lago home The DOJ has been accused of withholding information and was criticised by Democrats over the slow release and heavy redaction of records from the investigation into Epstein. The new files include hundreds of videos or audio recordings, notably surveillance footage from August 2019, the month Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The new trove of documents included an email from a prosecutor indicating President Donald Trump had travelled on board his private jet "many more times than previously has been reported". The latest release includes around 30,000 pages of documents, ‍with many redactions, and dozens of video clips, including several purporting to be shot inside a federal detention centre. Epstein was found dead in 2019 in a New York jail. His death was ruled a suicide. Flight records show Trump travelled on Epstein jet eight times in 1990s In one of those emails, dated 7 January 2020, an unidentified prosecutor in New York wrote that flight records showed Mr Trump had flown on Epstein's private jet eight times during the 1990s, which was more than investigators then were aware of. Among those were "at least four flights" on which Ghislaine Maxwell was also on board. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. On one flight, the only three passengers were Epstein, Mr Trump and a 20-year-old woman whose name was redacted. "On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case," the document stated. The White House did not immediately respond ⁠to a request for comment on the email regarding Mr Trump's alleged flights with Epstein in the 1990s. In another email, an unidentified person wrote in 2021 that they had recently been looking ⁠through data the government obtained from Steve Bannon's mobile phone and found an "image of Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell". The government redacted the photo. Read more: Trump administration denies cover-up over redacted Epstein files Takeaways from latest release of Jeffrey Epstein files US Justice Department releases new cache of Epstein records Democrats release dozens more new images from Epstein estate Trump downplays importance of ‍Epstein files The Department of Justice posted a statement on X saying: "Some of these documents contain untrue ⁠and ‍sensationalist claims made against ⁠President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. "To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have ‍been weaponised against President Trump already. "Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these ⁠documents with the legally...

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