In a move that has drawn intense public scrutiny, the U.S. Department of Justice started making its investigative records on former financier Jeffrey Epstein available to the public on December 19, 2025. The release follows the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law on November 19, 2025.
The Investigation Begins
The probe into Epstein’s alleged sexual misconduct began in March 2005 when police in Palm Beach, Florida, started looking into a 14-year-old girl’s report that she had been molested at the billionaire’s mansion. Over the next year, several underage girls-many high-school students-told authorities that Epstein had hired them to give sexual massages.
In May 2006, Palm Beach police officials signed paperwork to charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor. However, State Attorney Barry Krischer sent the case to a grand jury instead of proceeding directly to trial. A grand jury indicted Epstein in July 2006 on a count of soliciting prostitution, prompting the FBI to launch its own investigation.
Federal prosecutors prepared an indictment in 2007, but for a year Epstein’s lawyers negotiated with U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta in Miami about a deal that would avoid a federal prosecution. Epstein’s attorneys dismissed his accusers as unreliable.
Secret Deal and Light Jail Term
On June 8, 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges-one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He received an 18-month jail sentence. A secret agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s office and Epstein’s team stipulated that the federal government would not pursue charges. Most of his sentence was served in a work-release program that let him leave the jail during the day.
In May 2009, Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit alleging that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had arranged for her to have sexual encounters with “royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen” and others. The lawsuit did not name the men.
By July 2009, Epstein was released from jail. Over the following decade, his accusers fought in court to invalidate the federal non-prosecution agreement.
Media Coverage and Lawsuits
On March 2, 2011, the Daily Mail published an interview with Giuffre in which she described traveling with Epstein to London at age 17 and spending a night dancing with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Prince Andrew. The story and a photo of the prince with Giuffre’s arm around him created a crisis for the royal family, and FBI agents subsequently interviewed Giuffre.
On December 30, 2014, Giuffre’s lawyers filed court papers claiming she had sexual encounters with Mountbatten-Windsor and other men, including “foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.” All those men denied the allegations.
In November 2018, the Miami Herald revisited the handling of Epstein’s case in a series of stories that focused partly on the role of Acosta-who by that time was President Donald Trump’s labor secretary. The coverage intensified public interest in Epstein.
New York Prosecutors Revive Case
On July 6, 2019, federal prosecutors in New York arrested Epstein on sex-trafficking charges after concluding that the earlier non-prosecution deal did not bind them. Days later, Acosta resigned as labor secretary.
On August 10, 2019, Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in New York.
On July 2, 2020, New York federal prosecutors charged Ghislaine Maxwell with sex crimes, alleging she helped recruit and abuse Epstein’s victims. On December 30, 2021, after a month-long trial, a jury convicted Maxwell of sex trafficking and other crimes. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 28, 2022.
In January 2024, a judge made more court records public in a related lawsuit, sparking renewed public interest and the spread of conspiracy theories about Epstein’s alleged international sex-traffic network.
A New President and Fresh Political Crisis
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump-who had been friends and neighbors with Epstein for years-was inaugurated for a second term. During his 2024 campaign, Trump suggested that he would seek to open more government files on Epstein.
In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Fox News Channel interview that an Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk. The Justice Department distributed binders marked “declassified” to far-right influencers, but much of the information had long been public.
On April 25, 2025, Giuffre died by suicide.
On July 7, 2025, the Justice Department announced that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” and would not release any more files related to his sex-trafficking investigation.
On July 15, 2025, Representatives Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Wall Street Journal described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the letter and sued the newspaper.
On July 24-25, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell. She denied wrongdoing and said she never saw Trump involved in any sexually inappropriate activity. Afterward, she was moved from a low-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
A Prince Loses His Royal Title
On October 21, 2025, Giuffre’s posthumous memoir was published. In it, she revisited her claims that Epstein and Maxwell sexually trafficked her to powerful men, including Mountbatten-Windsor.
On October 30, 2025, King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his remaining titles, meaning he could no longer be referred to as “prince,” and evicted him from his royal residence.
On November 12, 2025, a House committee released a trove of email correspondence between Epstein and others, including Mountbatten-Windsor, Trump ally Steve Bannon, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. In a 2019 email to a journalist, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls” but did not explain what he meant by that.
On November 14, 2025, at Trump’s urging, Bondi announced that the U.S. attorney in Manhattan would investigate Epstein’s ties to some of the Republican president’s political foes, including former President Bill Clinton, Summers and Hoffman. None of those men has been accused of misconduct by Epstein’s victims.
On November 18, 2025, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Trump signed it into law the next day.
Key Takeaways
- The Justice Department began releasing Epstein investigative files on December 19, 2025, after the Transparency Act was signed.
- Epstein’s legal history includes a 2008 plea deal, a 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges, and the 2021 conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell.
- The release of records has prompted renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s alleged connections to high-profile figures, including Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, and others.
The ongoing public release of government records continues to illuminate the breadth of Epstein’s alleged network and the political ramifications that persist in the wake of his death.
