The Justice Department has been forced to respond to claims it illegally withheld documents in the Epstein files containing FBI interviews with a woman who accused Donald Trump of crimes linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
A social media post by the department on Wednesday follows Democrats’ announcement that they would open a new investigation into the matter, marking another blow for Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ’s bungled handling of the files.
The post referenced reporting by NPR and former Daily Beast reporter Roger Sollenberger, who reported earlier this month that the department had only released documents about the first of four interviews with a woman who, in 2019, accused Trump and Epstein of sexual abuse when she was a minor.
The notes on the FBI’s interviews were contained in a list described as “non-testifying witness material” supplied to Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys in 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Though Trump is not mentioned in the first interview, it remains unclear what was said in the other three.
Some documents, however, show the woman’s allegations against Trump, including one file from an FBI summary last August, which describes a meeting in the mid-80s where she claimed she was assaulted by Trump when she was 13 or 14. She adds that she was also abused by Epstein. The document does not include any FBI evaluation of the credibility of the accusation.
Trump also appeared on an FBI list of “prominent names” in the files. One point in the slideshow read: “[Redacted] stated Epstein introduced her to Trump who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis which she subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out. (date range 1983-1985, [redacted] would have been 13-15).”
The Justice Department’s rapid response team posted Wednesday: “As the Department of Justice has consistently said and has done since the January 30, 2026 publication of the Epstein files, if any member of the public, including victims, reported concerns with information in the pages, the Department would review, make any corrections, and republish online.”
“Several individuals and news outlets have recently flagged files related to documents produced to Ghislaine Maxwell in discovery of her criminal case that they claim appear to be missing,” it continued.
“As with all documents that have been flagged by the public, the Department is currently reviewing files within that category of the production. Should any document be found to have been improperly tagged in the review process and is responsive to the Act, the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law.”
NPR’s reporting contradicts Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim that the Justice Department’s release of more than three million pages of the Epstein files was all it had on the subject.
According to the report, “53 pages of interview documents and notes” are missing from the public database.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in connection to Epstein and has repeatedly described the issue as a “Democratic hoax.” He has previously claimed that he cut ties with Epstein around the mid-2000s, some time after he discovered Epstein was “stealing” his Mar-a-Lago staff.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the New York Times Tuesday that Trump has “been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the DOJ and White House for comment.
The move comes days after Congressional Democrats announced that they were investigating the matter.
“For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats have been investigating the FBI’s handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor,” Rep. Robert Garcia said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Department of Justice,” he added. “Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes.”
The DOJ responded to that news by claiming Democrats on the committee were being misleading, saying in part: “ALL responsive documents have been produced unless a document falls within one of the following categories: duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation.”
During Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, several Democrats called attention to the scandal that his administration hasn’t been able to shake.
Some brought survivors of Epstein as guests, while others wore badges reading, “Stand with survivors. Release the files.”
