What do we know about the Jeffrey Epstein files?

The words “Epstein case” have haunted the Trump administration for months as it grapples with the growing crisis surrounding the crimes of recently convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Pressure has been building from supporters of President Donald Trump and voices within his own Republican Party for more transparency about what the federal investigation into Epstein has revealed.

After weeks of resisting release, Trump reversed course and called on House Republicans to vote to open Epstein's files to public scrutiny.

The House of Representatives, the lower house, is expected to approve a measure to release the files on Tuesday.

Then it will be the turn of the Senate or upper house to consider doing the same. If this happens, it will end up on the president's desk.

In 2008, Epstein reached a plea deal with prosecutors after the parents of a 14-year-old girl told Florida police that Epstein molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home.

Photos of the girls were found throughout the house, and he was found guilty of soliciting prostitution of a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender and avoided a heavy prison sentence as a result of the deal.

Eleven years later, he was charged with organizing a network of underage girls for sex. He died in prison while awaiting trial, and his death was ruled a suicide.

During the course of these two criminal investigations, a huge amount of documents was collected, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as items confiscated during searches of his various properties.

There was also a separate investigation into his British accomplice and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to traffic girls for sex.

Both Epstein and Maxwell have also been the target of civil cases.

At various stages over the years, some material has been released into the public domain.

Last week, the House Oversight Committee released thousands of documents belonging to the Epstein estate, mostly emails.

It was not the first tranche allocated by the House Oversight Committee since it subpoenaed Epstein's estate earlier this year.

An earlier edition, released in September, included a congratulatory book with a note to Epstein naming Trump, which he denied writing.

In February, weeks after Trump took office, the Justice Department and FBI released what they then called “the first phase of declassified Epstein files.”

A group of right-wing influencers were invited to the White House, but they were left disappointed when they realized that the 341 pages they were given were mostly material that was already there.

It included flight logs from Epstein's plane and a redacted version of his contacts book containing the names of famous people he knew.

In July, the Justice Department and FBI said in a memo that no further material would be released.

Now everything can change.

The contents of the unreleased documents remain unknown.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in FBI documents, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He was previously friends with Epstein, and the newspaper noted that his name in the files was not evidence of wrongdoing.

A White House spokesman called the story “fake,” although an unnamed official told Reuters the administration did not dispute that Trump's name was included.

Publicly available materials mention a number of prominent figures associated with Epstein.

Again, this does not imply any wrongdoing on the part of these individuals.

Dozens of names appeared in court documents released in 2024, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a former prince and brother of King Charles, former US President Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson.

Both Clinton and members of the British royal family deny any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Jackson died in 2009.

The release of these documents is related to the case of Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking.

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mountbatten-Windsor were named in flight logs published in September.

Mountbatten-Windsor has previously categorically denied any wrongdoing. Musk said Epstein invited him to the island, but he refused.

The latest batch of emails belonging to the Epstein estate and released on November 12 also included former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and former Trump aide Steve Bannon.

Summers would later withdraw from public engagement, writing in a statement: “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue to communicate with Mr. Epstein.”

Bannon, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Trump's name was also mentioned several times in this latest episode. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

The House vote was prompted by a dismissal petition reaching the critical 218th signature, prompting action on the floor.

The petition was signed by four Republicans and all 214 Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The vote is expected to take place on November 18.

If the bill passes the House of Representatives, it will move to the Senate. Republican senators have yet to say much about their position, and passage in the upper chamber requires 60 votes, a high threshold.

It then goes to the president's desk for approval or rejection.

Trump and Epstein have apparently been friends for several years and maintain similar social circles.

Previously released files show Trump's information was in Epstein's so-called black book of contacts. Flight logs also showed Trump flew on Epstein's plane several times.

They were photographed together at high-end events in the 1990s, and photographs published by CNN allegedly show Epstein attending Trump's wedding to then-wife Marla Maples.

In 2002, Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy.” Epstein later remarked: “I was Donald's closest friend for 10 years.”

According to Trump, they had a falling out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. By 2008, Trump said he was not “a fan.”

The White House suggested that their consequences were related to Epstein's behavior and that “the president kicked him out of the club for being a creep.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post suggested that the breakdown of their relationship was due to their rivalry over real estate in Florida.

Stalwarts of Trump's MAGA movement have long believed officials were hiding key truths about Epstein's life and death.

Some of them suggest that a child molestation cabal operates at the highest levels of American society and is protected by the state. The theory spread through cryptic messages posted by the pseudonym Q.

One conspiracy theory promoted by some MAGA influencers is that Epstein was an agent of the Israeli government.

Some Trump allies have tried to quell the backlash. Last month, House Republicans adjourned the House early, suspending efforts to force the release of Epstein-related documents for 30 days.

There are several unanswered questions about Epstein that are shared by the general public – including why he was given such a lenient sentence in Florida, whether he and Maxwell actually acted alone, and how he was allowed to take his own life in prison.