Alex SmithAnd
Anthony Ruben,BBC check
Studio Davidoff/Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump was listed as a passenger on recently convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's private jet eight times between 1993 and 1996, according to a new email released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet on many more occasions than previously reported (or that we knew),” said a Jan. 7, 2020, email from an assistant U.S. attorney.
Trump's name on the flight log does not indicate wrongdoing. In 2024 Trump wrote: “I’ve never been on Epstein’s plane.” He denies any wrongdoing against Epstein.
The Justice Department says some of the files released Tuesday “contain false and sensational allegations” against Trump.
Trump had been Epstein's friend for years, but the president said the two had a falling out around 2004 – years before Epstein was first arrested.
The latest release of more than 30,000 pages of documents is part of the so-called Epstein files, which the Justice Department is required by law to release in full by last Friday.
In a statement Tuesday, the Justice Department said: “Several of these documents contain false and sensational allegations against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI just before the 2020 election.
“However, because of our commitment to the law and transparency, the Department of Justice is releasing these documents with the legally required protection for Epstein's victims.” the Justice Department said in a statement regarding X.
The prosecutor's email was sent on January 7, 2020, and is part of an email chain that includes the subject heading: “RE: Epstein's flight records.”
The sender and recipient are redacted, but at the bottom of the letter is the Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, with the name redacted.
The email said Trump “was listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which [Epstein's associate Ghislaine] Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having traveled at various times with, among others, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany and son Eric.”
“On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two passengers on the list; on the other, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump and the then 20-year-old…” The rest of the sentence has been redacted.
He continues: “On the other two flights, two passengers respectively were women who could become possible witnesses in the Maxwell case.”
The email said Trump flew on Epstein's plane, “including while we await indictment in the Maxwell case.”
In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illicit sex acts and sex trafficking of minors. Ministry of Justice said at the time she committed crimes from at least 1994 to 2004, inclusive, or around it.
Epstein died in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
![Graphic showing the header and body of an email, with the header showing that the email was sent on January 7, 2020, but the sender's name and email address have been redacted. It says: "For your situational awareness, I want to let you know that the flight records we obtained yesterday show that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously reported (or that we were aware of), including during the period during which we expected to file charges in the Maxwell case. Specifically, he is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having traveled, among other things and at various times, with Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric. On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two passengers listed; on the other hand, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump and a then 20-year-old man. [REDACTED]. On the other two flights, two passengers respectively were women who could become possible witnesses in the Maxwell case. We had just finished reviewing the full records (over 100 pages of very little text) and didn't want any of this to be a surprise in the future.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ef4f/live/45233340-e047-11f0-b67b-690eb873de1b.png.webp)
The prosecutor's email did not provide further details about the flights.
The handwritten flight log released by the Justice Department in February contains many entries that are difficult to read.
However, one of them mentions Donald Trump, as well as his son Eric, participating in the August 13, 1995 flight from PBI (Palm Beach International Airport in Florida) to TEB (Teterboro Airport in New Jersey). It also lists JE and GM, widely believed to be acronyms for Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Tuesday's release of Epstein-related files is the largest yet, but many other documents in the Justice Department's possession have not yet been made public. Since Friday, several thousand files have been published in eight packages.
The Justice Department missed a deadline set by Congress last Friday to release all of its files related to Epstein, including photos, videos and investigative materials.
The department was criticized from survivors and legislators all along the way. for failure to comply with this deadline.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on deadline day that not all files will be published immediatelyand this information will be published in the coming weeks.
“A lot of people are looking at this, so we want to make sure that when we produce the materials that we produce, we protect every victim,” he said Friday.
