How to read the 20,000 Jeffrey Epstein files for yourself
A digital avalanche is about to get bigger. Here’s how to uncover what’s buried in the files.
A digital avalanche of Jeffrey Epstein files is set to grow even larger after US President Donald Trump signed a bill to release additional documents.
This will build on the more than 20,000 files already released by the House oversight committee this month that have investigators, journalists, and curious citizens around the globe racing to uncover what’s buried inside.
The disgraced financier and convicted sex offender’s archive has already yielded explosive revelations – including claims that US President Donald Trump “knew about the girls” and tech billionaire Bill Gates “loved” Epstein and wanted to talk to him but “his wife won’t let him” – but the bill will soon trigger further disclosure.
The November data dump is a chaotic sprawl of emails, text messages, court documents and bizarre details, such as a video of a pet dog chewing on a Trump doll.
For those willing to wade through the disorganised mess, here is your guide to getting in the weeds and taking a look for yourself.
WHERE TO READ THE LATEST EPSTEIN FILES
Here is the official linkprovided by The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on November 12.
Inside, there are four folders labelled DATA, IMAGES, TEXT and NATIVES but nothing to describe the content or context beyond that.
To make things easier, we have uploaded all of these documents into an unofficial Google Pinpoint collection that you can access here.
Pinpoint allows users to search for keywords, names and dates across the full collection of documents and more quickly navigate between files.
Due to limitations on the size and type of files accepted by Pinpoint, some files have been converted into a different file type to what is provided in the original, official drive.
KEY DATES TO KEEP IN MIND
March 2005: Police in Palm Beach, Florida, open an investigation after a 14-year-old’s parents report Epstein for sexual abuse.
July 19, 2006: A Palm Beach grand jury indicts Epstein on a single state charge, which police protest as insufficient.
May 2007: Federal prosecutors in Florida draft a 60-count indictment against Epstein.
Circa 2007: Donald Trump claims he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club after Epstein allegedly harasses a member’s daughter.
June 30, 2008: Epstein avoids the federal charges through a secret Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA), arranged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office led by Alex Acosta. He pleads guilty to minor state charges, serves 13 months in county jail, and is granted 12-hour-a-day work release.
July 22, 2009: Epstein is released from jail.
September 21, 2015: Victim Virginia Giuffre sues Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell for defamation. This lawsuit becomes the source of future document unsealings.
November 28, 2018: The Miami Herald publishes its bombshell “Perversion of Justice” series. The investigation, led by Julie K. Brown, reveals the 2008 secret plea deal and Acosta’s role, sparking national outrage.
July 6, 2019: Federal agents arrest Epstein in New York on sex trafficking charges.
July 8, 2019: A spokesperson for Bill Clinton releases a statement that the former president “knows nothing” of Epstein’s crimes and had not spoken to him in “well over a decade.”
July 9, 2019: President Donald Trump publicly distances himself, telling reporters he “wasn’t a fan” and had a “falling out” with Epstein.
July 12, 2019: Alex Acosta resigns as U.S. Secretary of Labor over his handling of the 2008 plea deal.
August 7, 2019: Billionaire Leslie Wexner, Epstein’s primary client, sends a public letter stating he cut ties with Epstein in 2007 and accusing him of misappropriating “vast sums of money.”
August 9, 2019: A federal court unseals more than 2000 pages of documents from the 2015 Giuffre v. Maxwell case, making many detailed allegations public for the first time.
August 10, 2019: Epstein is found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. His death is ruled a suicide.
August 27, 2019: In a landmark hearing, a judge allows over a dozen of Epstein’s victims to deliver impact statements to the court, despite the criminal case being closed.
October 12, 2019: There are high profile reports that Bill Gates had numerous meetings with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, contradicting previous statements.
November 20, 2019: Following a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with Epstein, Prince Andrew announces he is “stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future.”
January 3, 2024: A federal judge begins unsealing the “John Doe” files, another trove of documents from the 2015 Giuffre lawsuit. The release names over 150 of Epstein’s associates, victims, and acquaintances, triggering a new wave of global interest.
PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THE LATEST EPSTEIN DOCUMENT RELEASE
The following names are among those that appear in the documents.
However, being named does not suggest any wrong doing.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew)
Donald Trump, US President
Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted child sex offender
Bill Clinton, former US president
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser
Peter Mandelson, former UK ambassador in Washington DC
Larry Summers, former US Secretary of the Treasury and Harvard professor
Michael Wolff, American journalist
Landon Thomas Jr, former financial journalist for The New York Times
Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama
Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and co-founder of PayPal
Noam Chomsky, linguist
Peggy Siegal, high-profile entertainment publicist
Robert Trivers, evolutionary biologist
Faith Kates, co-founder of modelling agency Next Management
Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer
Naomi Campbell, supermodel
Heidi Klum, supermodel
Al Gore, former US Vice-President
Matt Groening, The Simpsons creator
Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder
Boris Nikolic, biotech venture capitalist
Originally published as How to read the 20,000 Jeffrey Epstein files for yourself
