Jeffrey Epstein

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Grand jury transcripts from abandoned Epstein investigation in Florida can be released, judge rules

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday gave the Justice Department permission to release transcripts of a grand jury investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of underage girls in Florida — a case that ultimately ended without any federal charges being filed against the millionaire sex offender.

https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-florida-bd036cbe2fa4e98d27aa473fd6daa3bd?

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Photos of Andrew reveal how ex-prince gave Jeffrey Epstein access to British high society

Photographs of the child sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell released by the US justice department appear to show how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor facilitated their access to British high society.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/20/epstein-files-appear-to-show-ex-prince-andrew-lying-on-laps-watched-by-ghislaine-maxwell?

Photos from the first batch of the Jeffrey Epstein files

Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Richard Branson are among the people who appear in the thousands of documents released by the US justice department on Friday

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2025/dec/19/new-photos-from-epstein-files-release?

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🔍 Why the Epstein scandal may never die

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images

The internet is awash in speculation, suspicion and disgust over the millions of new pages of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department on Friday, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Few believe the story is anywhere near finished. Why it matters: The DOJ's final release has delivered tantalizing revelations about Epstein's ties to elite society. But it has brought neither clarity nor closure to the questions that have kept this scandal alive. Five reasons the public's obsession is unlikely to abate in 2026: 1. An expanding blast radius. Some Epstein associates — British power broker Peter Mandelson, Norwegian royal Mette-Marit, celebrity doctor Peter Attia — are paying real reputational and professional costs. 2. A gap between government and public. The Justice Department has framed its massive document release as the end of its Epstein review, with no sign of further prosecutions. Via Truth Social 3. Endless intrigue, overwhelming volume. The sheer scale of the Epstein archive — millions of pages of emails, contacts, calendars and recordings — ensures a steady stream of new stories and leads for both journalists and conspiracy theorists. 4. Thriving misinformation. The Epstein files are being consumed in an information ecosystem that struggles with nuance, context and legal standards — where guilt by association is the default. AI compounds the confusion: Fake emails, doctored screenshots and AI-generated images circulate alongside authentic ones, tricking even veteran journalists. 5. Epstein as a symbol. The Epstein case has become shorthand for a deeper belief that powerful figures operate by different rules, and that the system is either unwilling or unable to hold them fully to account. Keep reading.

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Israel’s Barak says he regrets knowing Epstein after documents detail their long friendship

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has apologized for his yearslong friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Their relationship included regular correspondence, multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s Manhattan apartment and one to his private island. The former Israeli leader has not been implicated in Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and faces no accusations of wrongdoing. In an exclusive interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday, he said he regretted having ever known Epstein and apologized to all those “who feel deeply uncomfortable.” Read more.

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Logistics giant DP World replaces chairman named in Jeffrey Epstein documents High-profile resignations and replacements as Epstein case fallout spreads Speaker Johnson says he disapproves of Justice Department logging lawmaker searches of Epstein files WATCH: Trump defends last week's racist video post, says he didn't know about Lutnick's Epstein Island trip

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Epstein's Zorro Ranch

New Mexico's House of Representatives has approved creating a bipartisan special committee to investigate the ranch that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein owned in the state. The measure directs the committee, known as the Truth Commission, to examine "allegations of criminal activity" at the property known as Zorro Ranch and determine whether further "legislative action" is required. The committee's creation is the latest call for transparency and further investigation in the aftermath of the Justice Department's release of a trove of Epstein files, which has sent shockwaves through several industries after revelations about the late financier's ties to prominent figures.

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Ghislaine Maxwell fights release of more Epstein documents, calling disclosure law unconstitutional

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell are fighting the requested release of 90,000 pages related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell, saying a law used to force the public release of millions of documents is unconstitutional.

https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-b9890fa6fa230fa649c8a847c76d97da?

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Epstein files

A CNN examination of dozens of files in the Justice Department’s “Epstein library” has found that Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of former British prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, sought to lean on Jeffrey Epstein for financial help and continually showered him with praise, including after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Separately, on Wednesday, Epstein’s longtime accountant testified on Capitol Hill that he never saw any financial transactions that were red flags for abuse and trafficking, as he faced investigators for roughly seven hours as part of the House Oversight Committee’s probe. The committee sought answers on how Epstein made his money, how he spent it, and whether it was used for any illegal activities.

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Judge releases note that cellmate says he found after Jeffrey Epstein’s suspected suicide attempt A note Jeffrey Epstein’s former cellmate claimed he found after the millionaire sex offender’s first suspected jail suicide attempt was made public Wednesday, years after being sealed and locked in a courthouse vault as part of an unrelated legal dispute. Read more.

What to know: U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, New York, ordered the release of the note after The New York Times asked him last week to unseal it and other documents in a case involving the former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request. Few people had known about the note until Tartaglione, a former police officer serving a life sentence for killing four people, mentioned it last year on writer Jessica Reed Kraus’ podcast.   Tartaglione claimed he discovered the note in a book after Epstein was found on the floor of their cell at a Manhattan federal jail on July 23, 2019, with a strip of bedsheet around his neck. That was about three weeks before Epstein was found dead in his cell in what authorities concluded was a suicide. “They investigated me for month -- found nothing!!!” said the short note, which is hard to decipher in some places. “It is a treat to be able to choose” the “time to say goodbye,” the note continues.   It is unclear who wrote the note Tartaglione claimed to have found. It wasn’t mentioned in the lengthy government reports examining the circumstances of Epstein’s death, nor did it surface in the Justice Department’s recent release of files on the late financier. In a written ruling, Karas said he weighed the privacy interests of third parties, including Epstein, before ruling to release the note.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Lutnick’s testimony about Epstein draws praise from GOP chair and derision from Democrats