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CNN reporters are reviewing the latest trove that relate to the investigation into the convicted sex offender.
Updated 8:58 AM EST, Tue December 23, 2025
What we’re covering
• The Justice Department dropped more files overnight related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. We are going through the documents now and will share information as we learn more.
• President Donald Trump’s name has appeared in the latest file drop — including in references to flight records related to Epstein’s private plane. Authorities have not accused Trump of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein.
• This comes after a partial batch of heavily redacted files were initially released on Friday. They included never-before-released photographs of former President Bill Clinton with Epstein and a 1996 description of a criminal complaint against the late convicted sex offender.
Editor’s Note: This story contains some graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence.
AllCatch UpKey Findings
Epstein cites “our president” in 2019 letter to Larry Nassar
From CNN’s Kara Fox
Larry Nassar sits in a Michigan court in February 2018. Scott Olson/Getty Images/File
Warning: This post contains language readers may find disturbing.
Jeffrey Epstein appears to make crude references to President Donald Trump in a short 2019 handwritten letter from jail addressed to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar.
The letter does not explicitly name Trump, but Epstein wrote about “our president” in the message, sent in August 2019, the same month Epstein died by suicide in prison. Trump was president at the time.
An envelope addressed to Larry Nassar from Jeffrey Epstein, released by the US Justice Department. US Justice Department
It is included in the latest collection of Epstein documents released Monday. In the letter, Epstein wrote: “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls.”
Authorities have not accused Trump of any wrongdoing or charged him with any crimes in connection with Epstein.
“Dear L.N.,” Epstein wrote, “As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home. Good luck! We shared one thing … our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they’d reach their full potential. Our President also shares our love of young, nubile girls.” Epstein makes another lewd reference to Trump’s treatment of women in the letter.
“Life is unfair,” Epstein wrote, before finishing the letter.
While not referencing this specific letter, the Justice Department on Monday released a statement saying some of the documents released “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” against the president.
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
A letter written by Jeffrey Epstein and released by the US Justice Department. US Justice Department
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on the letter.
While Epstein writes “L.N.” in the letter, a photo of the envelope – postmarked on August 13, 2019 and addressed to the former Olympic doctor and sex offender – was released by the DOJ. The envelope was sent from Epstein’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City to Nassar, who was listed as an inmate at a federal prison in Arizona.
The letter was postmarked three days after Epstein died in prison. Prison staff are authorized to read and inspect outgoing mail, which can cause delays. It’s not clear why Epstein’s letter was permitted by prison officials to be sent and why it was delayed.
CNN previously reported that while he was imprisoned, Epstein sent a letter to Nassar — although the contents of the letter were not disclosed. It was discovered by prison officials investigating Epstein’s suicide weeks after his death. It is not known if Nassar and Epstein had a relationship.
Nassar, the longtime doctor for the USA gymnastics team and Michigan State University, is serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison on child pornography charges. More than 150 women and girls publicly told a court he sexually abused them.
The envelope, addressed to Larry Nassar at 9300 S. Wilmot Road, Tucson, Arizona, 85756, a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, was marked as “return to sender,” as the addressee was “no longer at this address.”
Why the DOJ says it has made redactions in the released Epstein files
From CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, Donald Judd and Catherine Nicholls
Newly-released and heavily-redacted documents from Jeffrey Epstein released by the US Justice Department are seen on December 19. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Among the thousands of documents related to the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are scores of redacted pages.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a letter to Congress last week that the Justice Department believes it can black out information even when it falls outside of the legally mandated redactions.
It is is also holding back what it believes would be protected internal information, including documents showing deliberative process, work product and attorney-client communications that would be privileged, according to Blanche.
Typically, redactions are used for protecting victims, showing gruesome injury or abuse, exposing personal information, or jeopardizing ongoing investigations and national security.
On Sunday, Blanche said that the move to redact information in the files is “simply … to protect victims.”
His comments were made after an image containing a photo of President Donald Trump appeared to have been removed from the department’s “Epstein Library.” Blanche said it was removed out of concerns for victims in the image. It was later restored to the online database.
“We’re going through a very methodical process with hundreds of lawyers looking at every single document and making sure that victims’ names and any of the information from victims is protected and redacted, which is exactly what the (Epstein Files) Transparency Act expects,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Exclusive: Survivor says she’s mortified her name went unredacted in Epstein file release
From CNN’s MJ Lee
A Jeffrey Epstein survivor who has only ever chosen to identify herself anonymously as “Jane Doe” was startled to learn that her name appeared multiple times in the Justice Department’s initial release of files related to the Jeffery Epstein investigation that began on Friday.
She told CNN in an exclusive interview yesterday that her attempts to get the DOJ to redact her name from the publicly available documents had been unsuccessful so far.
Jane Doe said she both witnessed and experienced Epstein’s abuse in 2009 and reported her experience to the FBI the same year. That time frame is particularly significant, because it was after Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges in Florida in the aftermath of receiving a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors.
Epstein would serve just 13 months in prison, though for much of his jail sentence Epstein was allowed to be out on a work-release program — a period of time when his abuse continued, survivors have said.
CNN verified that Jane Doe’s name appears many times in the Epstein files released so far by DOJ. CNN is choosing to only describe Jane Doe’s experience with and allegations against Epstein in broad and agreed-upon terms to protect her identity. She said that since Friday, she has received unsolicited phone calls.
CNN has reached out to DOJ for comment on Jane Doe’s unredacted inclusion in the files.
What has Trump previously said about his relationship with Epstein?
From CNN Staff
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump pose for a photo at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 22, 1997. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has said he had a “very bad relationship” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for “many years.” In recent years, he has called Epstein a “creep” and said he was “not a fan,” claiming that, before Epstein’s death in 2019, they hadn’t spoken in years.
Despite this harsh language, a comprehensive CNN review of court records, photographs, interviews, and other public documents undertaken earlier this year paints a portrait of an enduring relationship between the two men until the mid-2000s, when Trump says he cut ties with Epstein.
The president has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. The vast scope of the documents released related to the Epstein investigation cite many individuals and being named does not in itself show criminal wrongdoing.
In an October 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein, Trump describes him as “a terrific guy,” saying he’s known Epstein for 15 years. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump said at the time.
A 2003 letter bearing Trump’s name and a drawing of a woman’s torso said that he and Epstein had “certain things in common.” When the letter was made public in September 2025, Trump strongly denied that he had anything to do with it.
By 2004, Trump and Epstein had a well-known falling out, reportedly tied to a dispute over a Palm Beach mansion both men wanted to buy at auction.
Years later, in February 2015, Trump said that Epstein had “a problem,” adding: “that Island was really a cesspool, there’s no question about it,” referring to a private island in the US Virgin Islands owned by Epstein.
He has continued to downplay suggestions that he shared a friendship with Epstein in the years since.
CNN’s Em Steck, Andrew Kaczynski, Bob Ortega, Allison Gordon, Jhasua Razo, Maya Blackstone and Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting to this post.
Flight records show Trump traveled on “at least eight” Epstein flights, assistant US attorney writes
From CNN’s Kara Fox
An email written by an assistant US attorney from the Southern District of New York dated January 8, 2020. Department of Justice
Flight records show Donald Trump “traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware),” an assistant US attorney from the Southern District of New York wrote in an email dated January 8, 2020.
Trump was listed as a passenger on “at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which (Ghislaine) Maxwell was also present,” it said.
On a flight in 1993, Trump and Epstein “are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old.”
“On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case,” the assistant US attorney said in the email, which was sent during Trump’s first term.
The assistant US attorney added: “We’ve just finished reviewing the full records (more than 100 pages of very small script) and didn’t want any of this to be a surprise down the road.”
For context: Trump and Epstein have a long history together, and authorities have not accused Trump of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. The vast scope of the documents related to Epstein cite many individuals and being named does not in itself show criminal wrongdoing.
Trump has long tried to distance himself from Epstein. Trump has called him a “creep,” insisted he was “not a fan,” and said that before Epstein’s death, they hadn’t spoken in years. Yet a comprehensive CNN review of court records, photographs, interviews, and other public documents paints a portrait of an enduring relationship until the mid-2000s, when Trump says he broke it off. Trump now repeatedly downplays his past friendship with Epstein, even as new material continues to surface.
Trump bemoans destroyed reputations as a result of Epstein files release
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak
President Donald Trump takes questions from journalists at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump bemoaned yesterday the potential reputational damage inflicted on people who appear in photos released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which he insisted were only made public because of an effort to distract from his accomplishments.
“A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined a reputation of somebody,” Trump said during an event in the library at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach club that he claims to have ejected Epstein from in the early 2000s.
“A lot of people are very angry that this continues. A lot of Republicans,” he said, claiming the issue was meant to “deflect against a tremendous success.” (The files were released because of a bi-partisan law passed by Congress.)
Trump claimed he “hated” to see so many photos of former President Bill Clinton contained in the latest batch of documents released by the Justice Department on Friday.
“I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy. He can handle it,” he said.
As for the photos of himself contained in the Epstein files, Trump shrugged off what he said was a social connection from another era.
“They give you their photos of me, too,” he said. “Everybody was friendly with this guy, either friendly or not friendly, but he was around. He was all over Palm Beach.”
Material in Epstein files will “continue being reviewed and redacted,” DOJ has said
From CNN staff
Newly-released documents from disgraced late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a sheaf of entirely redacted pages, are seen in this handouts released by the U.S. Justice Department and printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters in Washington, DC on December 19, 2025. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Department of Justice said over the weekend it would continue reviewing and redacting materials from the thousands of files related to accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, released since Friday.
“Photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information,” the DOJ wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
For context: The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Justice Department to redact content that could potentially identify victims who were sexually abused. But the DOJ has faced scrutiny for the level of redactions in the documents that have been released. The department acknowledged Friday the “size and scope” of the redaction process it undertook made the result “vulnerable to machine error” and “instances of human error.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican lawmaker who led the effort to force a vote the legislation to release the files, told CNN on Sunday that the DOJ was not complying with the law Congress passed last month.
“Not only are they trying to create an exemption that doesn’t exist in our law, they are expressly ignoring the requirement to provide those materials,” Massie said.
CNN’s Logan Schiciano contributed to this post.
This is what happened after the Justice Department released more Epstein files on Friday
From CNN’s Catherine Nicholls
Thousands of documents related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released on Friday. Among them were images of well-known people and written complaints about Epstein.
Here’s what happened after the release before the weekend:
Deadline missed
Despite a law requiring all files related to the Epstein investigation to be released by Friday, this did not happen. The Justice Department said it would continue to release more documents in the coming weeks.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed in November, required the Justice Department to make all files related to Jeffrey Epstein publicly available within 30 days, in a searchable format, with content that could potentially identify victims redacted.
Redaction issues
Though the Epstein Files Transparency Act outlined how redactions should be made across the documents, both survivors and lawmakers have criticized the Justice Department for over-redacting information, with scores of completely-redacted pages being released.
At the same time, Gloria Allred, an attorney who represents several of the women abused by Jeffrey Epstein, said she believes some of the files may have been “under-redacted” after seeing several survivors’ names that should not have been included in the documents.
Famous faces
Former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey are seen in this undated photo released by the Justice Department as a part of the release of the Epstein Files, on Friday, December 19, 2025. Department of Justice
Among the documents released were images of famous people including former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, singer Michael Jackson, newsman Walter Cronkite and singer and actress Diana Ross.
None of the released images depicts sexual activity, and many are simply images of people at public events or functions together.
Clinton and Spacey have denied any wrongdoing, and CNN has not received a response from Ross or the estates of Jackson or Cronkite.
Survivors vindicated
The release of a 1996 complaint written about Epstein has vindicated Epstein survivors Maria and Annie Farmer. Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper, Annie Farmer said that seeing the complaint was “very emotional.”
“Just to see it in writing and to know that they had this document this entire time — and how many people were harmed after that date? We’ve been saying it over and over, but to see it in black and white that way has been very emotional,” she said.
CNN’s Logan Schiciano, Aleena Fayaz, Devan Cole and MJ Lee contributed to this reporting.
Original:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-epstein-files-12-23-25
