Trump administration won't release the Epstein files, but what would they contain? [View all]

USA TODAY spoke to former FBI agents and prosecutors to understand what the so-called "Epstein files" might contain, and the arguments for and against releasing them.

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A protester holds a sign calling for the release of files regarding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as part of the 'Good Trouble Lives On' national day of action against the administration of US President Donald Trump in Houston, Texas, on July 17, 2025. RONALDO SCHEMIDT, AFP Via Getty Images

Around 2006, federal investigators looked into allegations that Epstein was paying several minor girls to perform sex acts with him. That probe led to what many regard as a sweatheart deal for Epstein, in which he pleaded guilty in 2008 to two Florida state prostitution charges, avoided a sex-trafficking charge, and served just 13 months in a local jail.

The case related to criminal activities in Epstein's Palm Beach mansion, which was about two miles away from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. The federal prosecutor who negotiated the deal, Alex Acosta, became the secretary of Labor in Trump's first administration, but resigned after fallout from a 2018 Miami Herald investigation that revealed Acosta's role in the deal.

In July 2019, the convicted sex offender was arrested on the more serious charge of sex trafficking a minor. That same day, the FBI raided Epstein's Manhattan mansion, collecting computer hard drives and other potential evidence. After Epstein died, law enforcement also raided his property in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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The two men's friendship ended in about 2004, around the time they battled over an oceanfront Palm Beach mansion, according to the Washington Post. Trump recently said he banned Epstein from his Florida Mar-a-Lago club because Epstein "stole" staffers from the spa, including Virginia Giuffre, a well-known victim of Epstein who died by suicide earlier this year.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/03/what-would-doj-epstein-files-contain/85306180007/