menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

We Just Got More Information About the Biggest Question in American Politics

17 0
27.02.2026

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.

We know that the Department of Justice royally botched the release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. First, it slow-walked releasing the documents to the public, despite a legal requirement to do so. Then, it dumped 3.5 million pages in a sloppy release that included nude photos and unredacted names of victims.

What we still don’t know—and what is probably the single biggest question in domestic politics right now—is the extent of Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein. Trump and his administration claim that, though Trump (irrefutably) had a relationship with Epstein, he was neither aware of nor involved in Epstein’s systemic abuse and trafficking of underage girls. Critics contend there is no way that Trump could have been firewalled off from Epstein’s predation. Now, as the Epstein files come out, the country is watching for evidence that either faction is correct.

But this week, several news reports have suggested that the public still isn’t getting the full picture about Trump and Epstein. According to multiple reports, there is material missing from the released files about allegations that Trump sexually assaulted a minor who says she was introduced to Trump by Epstein in the 1980s.

Independent journalist Roger Sollenberger, followed by NPR and the New York Times, has been chasing down a story about a woman who, in 2019, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager in the early 1980s. After an analysis of the released materials, the outlets concluded that about 50 pages of interview documents and notes are missing from the Epstein files that have been released to the public.

This raises several obvious but extremely important questions: What is in those missing pages? Why weren’t they released? And are Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel engaged in a coverup of material that would be damaging to the president?

What are the accusations being leveled against Trump?

Earlier this month, Sollenberger came across an internal DOJ presentation that was created last summer and that detailed the government’s progress investigating Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement with the disgraced billionaire. In the presentation, there’s a slide titled “prominent names,” and the first person listed is Trump. There are two allegations listed underneath his name. The names of the accusers are redacted, but according to the FBI, the first one is a woman who claimed Epstein introduced her to Trump in the early to mid-1980s when she was between 13 and 15 years old. This woman told the FBI that Trump forced her head down toward his “exposed penis which she subsequently bit.” According to the presentation, she also said Trump then “punched her in the head and kicked her out.”

The second allegation against Trump came from a woman who also said Epstein introduced her to the current president. According to the allegation, Epstein introduced her by saying, “This is a good one, huh,” to which Trump allegedly responded, “Yes.” This woman was 14 years old at the time, and her meeting with Trump happened at Mar-a-Lago in 1994. However, based on public FBI records, this woman alleged she suffered sexual abuse only at the hands of Epstein (and not Trump). She ended up becoming a key government witness during Maxwell’s trial.

What did the FBI do with these allegations?

That’s not entirely clear. Sollenberger found that the woman who alleged Trump sexually assaulted her first reported it to the FBI through a hotline and, according to FBI records, agents followed up with her for an interview on July 24, 2019, while Trump was serving his first term as president, but she would only speak about her experience with Epstein, who she claims also assaulted her sexually. She specifically said she would not speak about Trump out of fear of retaliation.

Sollenberger found that FBI agents entered the woman’s case file into the agency’s database on Aug. 9, the day before Epstein was found dead in his jail cell. It’s not clear if the federal government ever conducted a full investigation into this woman’s claims. However, she did try to sue Epstein’s estate over sexual abuse allegations, but eventually dropped her claim.

So what’s missing from the DOJ’s latest Epstein file dump?

This is where things get murky. Sollenberger found that the woman who alleged Trump sexually assaulted her was interviewed by the FBI at least four times, but the public Epstein files only mention one of those interviews.

Epstein-data.com maintains an internet archive of all the Epstein files publicly released to date, and Sollenberger found an FBI document in that data trove that showed the agency interviewed this woman four times: On July 24, 2019; Aug. 7 and 20, 2019; and Oct. 16, 2019. But when he went to the DOJ’s public database to find that same document, or any notes related to the August or October interviews, it returned a “page not found” message.

The Supreme Court Just Basically Held Up a “No Kings” Sign

Popular in News & Politics

Aileen Cannon’s Campaign for a Supreme Court Seat Just Reached a New Low

This Content is Available for Slate Plus members only What Is Going on With Candace Owens and Erika Kirk?

On Thursday night, the Guardian reported it had obtained “25 pages of agents’ notes from the four interviews conducted in the summer and fall of 2019.” In those interviews, the woman claims she was assaulted by Epstein and subsequently by Trump. She also claimed she faced threats of retaliation, and in a fourth interview, she questioned whether there was any point in pursuing a case against Trump because “there was a strong possibility nothing could be done,” the Guardian reports.

So why weren’t all the files part of the public release?Well that depends on who you believe. Democrats see evidence of a coverup that aimed to protect Trump from the damaging allegations, and the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is pledging further investigation. The administration says there’s a more innocent explanation, telling the Guardian that the files weren’t released because they’re duplicative of material that already came out.

Are the allegations against Trump true?

Simply put, we do not know. In time, more evidence may come to light either corroborating or disproving the allegations, but right now, we’re pulling on some pretty thin threads. The Guardian report is skeptical, noting that the alleged events took place before Trump says he and Epstein ever met. But Trump is hardly a reliable narrator about anything—much less about deeply incriminating allegations against him.

Get the best of news and politics

Department of Justice


© Slate