An internal Justice Department email from January 2020 says President Donald Trump took more trips on the late offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet than officials had previously understood — including flights that, according to the email, included people who could have been potential witnesses in a case against Ghislaine Maxwell.
The email, released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by Trump on Nov. 19, says flight records list Trump as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996. That figure is higher than what the department previously believed. The email also says Maxwell was reportedly present on four of those flights.
“On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case,” the email states. “We’ve just finished reviewing the full records (more than 100 pages of very small script) and didn’t want this to be a surprise down the road.” The recipients of the email are redacted.
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to a Justice Department post on social media, which said some of the documents released Tuesday “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump.”
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false,” the DOJ wrote. “And if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
Maxwell was convicted of *** trafficking in 2021 for her role in grooming underage victims for Epstein and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was arrested by the FBI in July 2020, nearly a year after Epstein — her longtime partner — died by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting trial on ***-trafficking charges involving dozens of children.
This month, the Justice Department has released thousands of files tied to the Epstein investigation, many of them heavily redacted. Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Congress allows the department to withhold classified information, details that could identify victims, or content that could compromise an ongoing federal investigation.
Some of the released materials include photos depicting Epstein with what appear to be children. Maxwell appears in several images, along with other well-known figures, including former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, and Kevin Spacey. None are accused of criminal misconduct, and the images were released without context.
Trump also appears in a photo with Epstein that was briefly removed from the official DOJ website before being restored following public backlash.
The material in the newly released files differs from the emails tied to Epstein that were previously made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. Trump’s name appears multiple times in those emails.
