The Justice Department is reviewing whether it illegally withheld more than 50 pages of FBI interviews containing allegations that Donald Trump sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s — documents that Democratic lawmakers say prove a White House “cover-up” of “the most serious possible crime.”
The extraordinary admission came on Wednesday after news organizations, including NPR and The New York Times, reported that indexes and serial numbers in the released Epstein files showed FBI agents conducted four interviews with a woman who accused Trump of assault, but only one summary was made public.
“Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “Covering up direct evidence of a potential assault by the president of the United States is the most serious possible crime in this White House cover-up”.
The Justice Department initially denied any wrongdoing, posting on X that “NOTHING has been deleted” and that documents were only withheld if they were “duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation”. But by Wednesday evening, the department shifted course, announcing it would review whether any files were “improperly tagged” and promising to publish them if found.
The Missing Interviews
The woman at the center of the controversy first contacted authorities in July 2019, shortly after Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. She told FBI agents that Epstein introduced her to Trump in the early 1980s and that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was 13 to 15 years old.
According to indexes from evidence logs in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case, the FBI conducted four interviews with the accuser in August and October 2019, generating summaries and notes totaling more than 50 pages. Only one summary — focused largely on her allegations against Epstein — appears in the public database l.
The detailed memos from the follow-up interviews, which would have explored her accusations against Trump, are missing.
Garcia said he personally reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Justice Department on Monday and confirmed the discrepancy. “The fact that DOJ is suppressing documents alleging President Trump’s commission of sexual abuse of an underage victim only heightens my genuine concerns about a White House cover-up,” he wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
What the Released Files Show
The single released summary recounts the woman’s allegations against Epstein but does not include an assessment of their credibility. However, other entries in the Epstein files show the FBI took the allegations seriously enough to flag them for follow-up.
A 2025 FBI document in the public database lists tips received by the bureau’s national Threat Operations Center, including the woman’s accusation against Trump. Agents marked the allegation for further investigation and sent it to a field office in Washington “to conduct an interview”.
The woman’s biographical details match those of an alleged Epstein victim who filed a civil lawsuit against his estate in 2019, claiming Epstein trafficked her to New York, where she was raped by men linked to him. She voluntarily dismissed her claim in 2021. Her lawyer declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.
DOJ’s Shifting Response
The Justice Department’s initial statement on Wednesday was unequivocal: “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”.
But as pressure mounted, the department posted a follow-up message on X: “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”.
The department also reiterated that some files contain “untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”. “To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already”.
White House Response
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the administration’s record, saying Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than any previous president.
“By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him,” Jackson said.
She added that Trump has been “totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein” .
Trump himself told reporters last week: “I’m the expert in a way because I’ve been totally exonerated. That’s very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely. I think it’s a shame. I did nothing”.
The Epstein-Trump Relationship
Epstein and Trump socialized extensively in the 1990s and early 2000s, appearing together at various events. In a 2002 New York Magazine interview, Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” and said, “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side”.
Trump says he broke off ties around 2002, two years before Epstein’s first arrest in 2004. He denies ever flying on Epstein’s plane and has said a suggestive note to Epstein that appears to bear his signature was faked.
However, evidence and testimony from Maxwell’s 2021 trial indicate that Trump traveled on Epstein’s plane multiple times. Epstein wrote in one email that Trump “knew about the girls,” though it is unclear what he meant.
A number of the released files show Epstein discussing Trump in emails sent years after their association ended. In one 2011 email released by Democrats, Epstein wrote to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him”.
At the time, the White House said the victim referred to was Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide earlier this year. It said Giuffre “repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions”.
Political Fallout
Garcia announced that Oversight Democrats would open a parallel investigation into the withheld documents and demand they be provided to Congress. He also sent Bondi a letter demanding answers about whether Trump is under federal investigation for sexual abuse.
“This is the largest government cover-up in modern history. We are demanding answers,” Democrats on the committee said in a statement.
The Oversight Committee had previously issued a subpoena in August 2025 requiring the release of complete, unredacted Epstein files. Democrats argue the missing interview records do not fall within the categories the Justice Department cites for withholding documents.
Experts say the standoff could escalate. Kasey McCall-Smith, professor of international law at the University of Edinburgh, told The i Paper that Congress could issue another subpoena and, if the Justice Department fails to comply, hold Attorney General Bondi in contempt. Impeachment is also theoretically possible, though unlikely given Republican control of the House and Senate.
What’s Next
The Justice Department’s self-review is underway, but no timeline has been announced for completion. Garcia has promised to keep pressure on the administration.
“Donald Trump may call this investigation a hoax. He may try to deflect our work, but our message to him is very clear: our investigation is just getting started,” he said at a counter-event to Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. “We will get justice for these survivors”.
For now, more than 50 pages of FBI interviews remain out of public view. The Justice Department says it’s looking into whether they should have been released. Democrats say they already know the answer.
And the woman who made the allegations — interviewed four times, her story partially told, her most serious accusations still sealed — waits to see whether the truth will ever see daylight.
