According to a Bloomberg report shared by Newsweek, the FBI removed Donald Trump’s name—and the names of other well-known people—from Jeffrey Epstein’s files earlier this year. About 1,000 FBI agents were told to look for any mention of Trump while reviewing nearly 100,000 pages of documents.
The Justice Department said the review found no “client list” and no evidence connecting Trump to crimes, even though his name appeared in Epstein’s contact book and on flight logs. Officials said names like Trump’s were redacted because they were private citizens at the time, which is a normal practice under the law.
Attorney General Pam Bondi requested the review, and the files were later sent to her. Reports say she told Trump in May that his name was included in the documents. In July, the Justice Department and FBI announced that no more Epstein files would be released, citing privacy concerns and the need to protect victims.
This decision upset both Democrats and Republicans, who want more transparency. Trump has suggested that his name was added into the files by Barack Obama’s administration.
Trump and Epstein first knew each other in the late 1980s. They were seen at social events together in New York and Florida, and Trump once called Epstein a “terrific guy” in 2002. Trump later said they had a falling-out and hadn’t spoken for more than 10 years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest. Epstein, who was already a convicted sex offender, died in jail that year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Epstein owned a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands where he allegedly abused underage girls. Lawsuits later accused him of running a criminal operation there. Trump is known to have taken several flights on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, but records show those flights were between New York and Florida, not to Epstein’s island. Trump recently told reporters he never visited the island and even turned down an invitation.
The controversy continues. Critics, like Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, say Trump broke his campaign promise to release all the Epstein files. Trump, however, told reporters that the investigation found nothing against him and dismissed the whole situation as a “hoax.”