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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........

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