In September, FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers that internal bureau records contained "no credible information" that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked young women to anyone other than Epstein himself.
However, after the Justice Department released new Epstein materials on Tuesday that include internal email chains referring to "10 co-conspirators," Patel's testimony has come under scrutiny. The FBI director's remarks came during a Sept. 16 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, when he said the FBI had not developed credible evidence that Epstein trafficked victims to other individuals and suggested that if such evidence existed, he would have pursued it.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) pressed FBI Director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on whether the files relating to Jeffrey Epstein showed he had trafficked minors to people other...
On Tuesday, the DOJ posted more than 10,000 additional files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including internal government emails, investigative materials, and planning documents tied to Epstein's 2019 arrest and subsequent events.
Among the newly released records are at least two July 2019 email chains in which federal officials discuss the "status of the 10 co-conspirators," including questions about whether investigators needed to travel to make contact and updates on subpoenas served in multiple states.
One July 7, 2019 email, sent the day after Epstein's arrest, asked for an update on "the 10 co-conspirators," while a July 9 exchange described some individuals as located and served with grand jury subpoenas, with others listed as outstanding. The emails do not publicly identify the 10 people, and the names that appear in the documents are heavily redacted.
The released materials do not explain what investigators sought from the individuals or the basis for labeling them "co-conspirators," which means the emails themselves don't establish that prosecutors had chargeable evidence that Epstein trafficked victims to additional defendants or to specific end clients.
DOJ had said in July that there were no credible allegations that would lead to charges against others, while also detailing that prosecutors discussed an "ongoing" co-conspirator investigation and drafted internal memos after Epstein's death.
Epstein, a wealthy financier, was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died in custody the following month. Ghislaine Maxwell, described by prosecutors as Epstein's longtime associate, was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking related offenses. No other alleged co-conspirator has been charged in the federal criminal case.
The released Epstein materials contain numerous references to prominent individuals whose names, images, or interactions appear in the files even as investigators and the Justice Department stress that inclusion in the documents is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Among the high-profile figures whose names or images have surfaced are former President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew (Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor), and other well-known public figures from entertainment, business, and politics.
Multiple outlets noted that Trump's name appears in flight logs showing he flew on Epstein's private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 1996, sometimes with Ghislaine Maxwell present, even as the DOJ and Trump's own spokespeople emphasize there is no evidence of criminal conduct tied to those mentions.
