On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance promised their supporters that they would release the Justice Department files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if elected.
Donald Trump listens as first lady Melania Trump speaks at a signing ceremony for the “Fostering the Future” executive order in the East Room of the White House on November 13, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Since then, however, the administration has been reluctant to divulge more details about the investigation or release all of the files, angering some Republicans and Democrats and raising questions about Trump’s past connections to Epstein.
Here is a timeline of the major events surrounding the Epstein files saga since Trump returned to office.
Feb. 21, 2025
In an interview with Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients and if the Justice Department was planning to release them.
Bondi responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
In this Aug. 25, 2025, file photo, Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference in New York.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, FILE
The attorney general clarified in July that she was referring to the Epstein case files, and not an alleged client list.
Feb. 27, 2025
The Justice Department invites conservative bloggers and influencers and shares with them binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Most of the evidence had already been released to the public.
In this Feb. 27, 2025, file photo, political commentator Rogan O’Handley, aka DC Draino, TikToker Chaya Raichik, conservative activist Scott Presler, commentator Liz Wheeler and conservative political commentator Chad Prather carry binders bearing the seal of the US Justice Department reading “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” as they walk out of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Bondi and her team did not inform White House officials in advance that she planned to distribute the binders, sources with information about the event told ABC News.
May 8, 2025
The House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets demanded the release of the Epstein files in a letter to Bondi.
Bondi did not respond to the request before the May 16 deadline.
July 7, 2025
The DOJ and FBI released a joint statement that stated a review of its holdings uncovered no evidence of any client list kept by Epstein or other evidence that would predicate a criminal investigation of any uncharged parties.
The department also released hours of purported footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirmed Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.
The video from the Bureau of Prisons showing the moments before Epstein’s death was later determined to have been missing footage. Several conservative influencers slam Bondi and the Justice Department over the memo.
July 12, 2025
Trump defended Bondi in a social media post amid the pushback from some in his MAGA base over the handling of the Epstein probe.
Trump praised Bondi for doing a “fantastic job” and urged his “boys” and “gals” to stop criticizing her.
July 15, 2025
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna seek a House vote for a discharge petition to release the Epstein files.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks from the chamber to speak with reporters after the final vote to bring the longest government shutdown in history to an end, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The same day, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Bondi to “come forward and explain” her handling of the probe.
Signatures for the petition continue to grow, however, do not reach the 218 needed to move forward.
Asked what Bondi told him about the review of the Epstein files and if his name appeared at all, Trump responded, “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes.
“Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release,” Trump said.
July 24-25, 2025
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, interviewed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking and other charges related to Epstein’s illicit activities.
Family members of Virginia Giuffre speak during a rally in support of the victims of disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein outside the U.S. Capitol, on Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, FILE
Maxwell initiated the meeting, multiple sources told ABC News.
A month later, the Justice Department released a transcript of the interview, which was not under oath, where she claimed there was no client list.
Aug. 1, 2025
Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison in Florida, which is labeled “low security” to a federal prison camp in Texas, which is labeled “minimum security,” the Justice Department announced.
Sept. 8, 2025
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 238-page PDF document of the 50th birthday book to Epstein that includes a prologue by Maxwell and a page allegedly written by Trump.
In this Sept. 17, 2025, file photo, Rep. Jamie Raskin references an alleged drawing by Donald Trump made for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday, as FBI Director Kash Patel testified during the House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” in Rayburn building in Washington, D.C.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, FILE
Trump’s page features a typed letter written inside a doodle of a woman’s body, with his signature located in a provocative spot on the body.
The president denied that he wrote and signed the letter.
Nov. 12, 2025
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails that were part of more than 20,000 from the Epstein estate.
Some of the messages show Epstein talking about Trump, including one where he claimed Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of the sex-trafficked victims.
In this Sept. 8, 2004, file photo, Jeffrey Epstein is shown in Cambridge, Mass.
Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images, FILE
The White House accused Democrats on the House Oversight Committee of releasing “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative” about Trump.
Later that evening, Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office, a month after she won a special election, and became the final signature on the discharge petition to get it over the 218 threshold.
Johnson announced that he would bring a bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files to a vote on the floor next week.
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