An email published Tuesday as part of the Justice Department’s third release of its Jeffrey Epstein records claimed that flight logs show President Donald Trump flew on Epstein’s plane at least eight times in the 1990s, including one with an unnamed 20-year-old woman.
The email, which was sent in January 2020 from a federal prosecutor in New York to an undisclosed person, says, "For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a [Ghislaine] Maxwell case."
Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice, was indicted in July 2020 on federal sex trafficking charges. She was found guilty in December 2021 and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
The email said Trump, who was at the time serving his first term as president, "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 with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric."
"On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old [redacted]. On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case.”
Both the name of the sender and the recipient were redacted. It does not accuse Trump of any wrongdoing.
A White House official referred questions about the email and the broader release to a Justice Department statement posted to X earlier Tuesday.
The DOJ, which is legally required to release the files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, on Tuesday acknowledged there were multiple references to Trump in the latest document release, and said some include “untrue and sensationalist claims.”
“The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made 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 had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the DOJ said in its post on X.
“Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims,” the statement said.
Another item that was released Tuesday was a note signed by "J. Epstein" addressed to Larry Nassar, the sports doctor who was convicted of sexually abusing numerous girls and women in his care.
An envelope also released in the same batch bore a postmark of Aug. 13, 2019 at a USPS facility in Northern Virginia— three days after Epstein died in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Investigators say he died by suicide.
The note says, "Dear L.N., As you know by now I have taken the 'short route' home." It then tells Nassar "we shared one thing . . . our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they reach their full potential." The note then says "our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls," and then bemoans that he and Nassar have been locked up. "Life is unfair," the note concludes.
The envelope was marked "return to sender" and sent back to Epstein's jail because Nassar was no longer at the facility to which it was mailed. Another document shows the FBI requested a handwriting analysis to confirm it was Epstein's handwriting, but it does not include the results. NBC News cannot independently verify that Epstein wrote the letter.
Also included in the release are unverified, anonymous tips to the FBI, including one where the tipster said he'd spoken to a woman who alleged Trump and Epstein had raped her in the 1990s. The tipster said the woman was scared to go to the police. The tip came in on Oct. 27, 2020 — shortly before Election Day. It's unclear if the FBI investigated the anonymous second-hand claim.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and said he cut ties with Epstein at some point in the early 2000s because he was a "creep."
The release comes amid growing concerns from lawmakers and survivors that the department had fallen short of releasing all of its records as required by law.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday said he would be introducing a resolution directing the Senate to “initiate legal action against the DOJ” for only releasing some of its records related to Epstein on Friday and Saturday — less than 10,000 of the “hundreds of thousands” of documents that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had promised on Friday, according to an NBC News count.
“The law Congress passed is crystal clear: release the Epstein files in full so Americans can see the truth,” Schumer wrote in a post on X. “Instead, the Trump Department of Justice dumped redactions and withheld the evidence — that breaks the law.”
The initial records released by DOJ contained only passing references to Trump — and numerous pictures of former President Bill Clinton, who'd flown on Epstein's plane for Clinton Foundation trips in the early 2000s, before the financier was charged with any sex crimes.
One of the pictures showed Clinton in a hot tub, while another showed him swimming with Maxwell, and yet another showed him with a woman sitting on his leg.
Trump has asked the Justice Department to investigate Clinton's ties to Epstein. Clinton has denied any wrongdoing, and his spokesman on Monday called on Trump to direct all pictures and references to him in the files be released.
Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Trump suggested that the pictures should not have been released, and said that he would probably appear in some as well.
"I like Bill Clinton. I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton. Been nice to him. He’s been nice to me. We’ve always gotten along," Trump said.
"I hate to see photos come out of him, but this is what the Democrats, mostly Democrats, and a couple of bad Republicans, are asking for. So they’re giving their photos of me, too. Everybody was friendly with this guy," he said of Epstein.
He added that "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. They’re in a picture with him because he was in a party, and you ruin a reputation of somebody. So a lot of people are very angry that this continues."
Congress passed a bill last month, which Trump signed into law on Nov. 19, that gave Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice” involving Epstein, “including all investigations, prosecutions, or custodial matters.”
The law allows for some redactions and exceptions, including to protect victims' identities.
A group of Epstein survivors on Monday posted a letter on Instagram urging lawmakers to intervene.
The “public received a fraction of the files, and what we received was riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation. At the same time, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm,” the statement said.
The letter said the DOJ “violated the law,” and urged “immediate congressional oversight, including hearings, formal demands for compliance, and legal action, to ensure the Department of Justice fulfills its legal obligations.”
