Law&Crime Sidebar - Epstein Docs Deleted to Protect President Trump?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Okay, we got to talk about this. Bombshell new reporting claims there are key documents about sexual assault allegations involving President Donald Trump that are missing from the Epstein files release. So we're going to break down how these outlets and journalists are coming up with this, what this could mean and the responses we are already seeing. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. By the way, if you're into content creation, if you're putting things out on social media,

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Starting point is 00:00:52 Just visit opus.com. Slash sidebar. You sign up, you upload, and in minutes, you will have perfectly edited clips ready to go. For TikTok, shorts, reels, opus clip is really your one-stop shop. And having a tool like Opus clip means that our producers can get you viral courtroom updates instantly. This is the most powerful tool there is to share ideas and edit like a pro. So go to opus.combe, slash sidebar to get a free week and then 50% off. Okay, this is a major development coming out right now about the Epstein files.

Starting point is 00:01:18 And it's very confusing. So I definitely want to simplify it as clear as possible. Okay, I want to make sense of this. Because you have NPR that released a big. bombshell report claiming that the DOJ, the Department of Justice, withheld files from being made public that were related to allegations that President Donald Trump sexually abused a minor and regarding Epstein's allegations that somehow involved Trump. This is a major, major issue. Although, when we looked at it, there is some stuff that's maybe not entirely clear. So I'm

Starting point is 00:01:51 going to go through that. But here's the big picture. Throughout the release of these millions of pages of documents through the Epstein files transparency, Act. There has been a rumor, a belief, an allegation that the DOJ wasn't actually transparent, whether or not they are hiding something, whether or not you are seeing everything there is to see. And by the way, that comes in multiple forms. You have members of Congress reviewing the unredacted Epstein files at the Department of Justice claiming there were redactions that should have not been made or that there needs to be further investigations despite what the DOJ says. Many people will refuse to accept or believe the DOJ FBI's assessment that there is no evidence of third parties other than Epstein or his convicted accomplice, Galane Maxwell, sexually abusing women or girls.

Starting point is 00:02:39 I've mentioned this before. I'll mention it again. You had the FBI internal case summary within the Epstein files. There was this internal memo that said, the case agents and AUSA is ensured that all videos and images from the case file and from Epstein's residences and devices were reviewed for evidence of a crime. Those reviews reveal no evidence from any of the searches we conducted or any of the files we reviewed that any videos or other images exist of any victims in this case being sexually abused, nor do those reviews reveal any evidence that anyone other than Epstein and Maxwell participated in the sexual abuse of victims in this case. We are aware of the theories circulated in the media and online that Epstein video recorded the abuse of his victims, including by other men, but we have found no evidence to support that theory. Indeed, had we found such videos, we certainly would have used them as evidence in the criminal cases we investigated. and prosecuted and would have pursued any leads they generated. We did not, however, locate any such videos. I read through that fast because I mentioned it before, but here's the thing. I want to get to this. With all that in mind, you now have this reporting by NPR that I want to break down. The outlet claims that there are more than 50 pages of FBI interviews and notes that are missing

Starting point is 00:03:42 right now and that they regard this accusation that Donald Trump years ago sexually abused a child. So the natural question is, why does NPR believe this? And by the way, I should tell you, you have to assume for an outlet like NPR to make such a claim, to make such a report against the sitting president of the United States. And by the way, they made this on the eve of his state of the union address. They better feel pretty confident in their analysis and reporting to do this, okay? Otherwise, they could potentially subject themselves to intense blowback and maybe even legal liability. So the reason they are reporting this is they claimed they looked at the serial numbers of the pages in the Epstein file.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And they say there are, quote, dozens of pages that look like they were cataloged by the Department of Justice but are missing. They weren't released. Now, before we go any further, I want to remind everybody about the law here and what the Department of Justice is technically permitted to exclude from release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. So according to the law, the Attorney General can withhold redact materials that contain personally identifiable information of victims or that contain child sexual abuse material. or that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or prosecution, and even things that depict or contain images of death, physical abuse, injury. There was also a section that said information that could basically jeopardize national defense or foreign policy can be withheld or redacted.

Starting point is 00:05:11 However, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote a letter to members of Congress that records were not being withheld on that basis. And she did indicate that records were being withheld on the basis of privilege, so such as attorney-client privilege or deliberative process privilege. That's basically the inner workings and thoughts regarding how a government agency comes to a decision. It's kind of like executive privilege. Now, Bondi also guaranteed that no records were withheld, quote, on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary. Natural conclusion would be if there was something embarrassing about the

Starting point is 00:05:47 president, they're not going to withhold it. So the question is, as we go through this, if there materials withheld, were they withheld under one of those other exceptions? I don't know. Let's go through this. I want to go back to the reporting from NPR. So NPR explains, and this is something we talked about on a previous sidebar, how the FBI compiled this list of accusations against Donald Trump. And the tips apparently came into the FBI's National Threat Operations Center. Now, the problem is, this was an issue of secondhand information and also an issue of there was no corroborating evidence to necessarily support these claims on the face of it. So for example, you have this one, and this is the one that we're going to be focusing on. Redacted reported an unidentified female friend

Starting point is 00:06:31 who was forced to perform on President Trump approximately 35 years ago in New Jersey. The friend told Redacted that she was approximately 13 to 14 years old when this occurred, and the friend allegedly bit President Trump while performing a bit. The friend was allegedly hit in the face after she laughed about biting President Trump. The friend said she was also abused by Epstein. And by the way, there is a note that that lead was sent to the Washington office to conduct an interview. Keep that in mind. We're going to talk about that.

Starting point is 00:07:03 But just to give you an idea about the other tips that came in, here's another one. Online complainant reported she was a victim and witness to a sex trafficking ring at the Trump golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, between 1995 and 1996. Complaintant reported Galane Maxwell as the madam and broker for sex parties, clients of whom included Epstein, Robin Leach, remember lifestyles of the rich and famous, and Donald Trump.

Starting point is 00:07:27 Complaintant reported participating in orgies and that some girls went missing, rumored to have been murdered and buried at the facility. Complaintant reported being threatened by Trump's then head of security that if she ever talked of what went on there or who she saw, she would, quote, end up as fertilizer for the back nine holes. Now, there is a note there. Complaintant was spoken to and deemed not credible. Additional research showed three separate incidents involving police, which requested in mandatory psychiatric evaluations.

Starting point is 00:07:56 So, again, keep these allegations with a grain of salt. But there's also more allegations. One of complainant's ex-girlfriend's daughters told complainant, Trump raped her, as did Epstein. Complaintant reported Donald Trump participated regularly in paying money to force her to perform sex acts with him and alleged Trump was present when her uncle murdered her newborn child. Donald Trump, the president, had parties at Marlago called Callender Girls. Jeffrey Epstein would bring the children in and Trump would auction them off. Again, these are all allegations that came in, but you have serious issues of credibility, corroboration, not being able to follow up on tips.

Starting point is 00:08:30 And remember, the DOJ came forward and said, quote, this production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents, or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalistic claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false. And if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Okay, I want to go back to the one that was apparently sent to the Washington office, the allegation that Trump had forced a child to perform oral sex on him. According to NPR, this allegation was different. This allegation was taken so seriously that it was included, in an FBI PowerPoint presentation, and that the president, Donald Trump, was listed under the prominent name section. So there's two different allegations here. One, redacted stated Epstein introduced her to Trump, who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed private area, which she subsequently bit in response. Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out.

Starting point is 00:09:41 Date range 1983 to 1985, redacted would have been 13 to 15. Here's a second allegation that apparently was taken seriously. Redacted remembered Epstein introduced her to Trump saying, this is a good one, huh? And Trump responded, yes. Date range roughly 1984, would have been 14. Now, we're going to get back to that second allegation a little bit later on. By the way, there were other names on this PowerPoint 2, Bill Clinton, Leon Black, Howard Lutnik,

Starting point is 00:10:12 Les Wexner. We've talked about them a lot on sidebar. But NPR makes the point. Here's the big deal. that these allegations against Donald Trump only appear in two places in the Epstein files. One, that list of yellow highlighted allegations compiled by the FBI, which I mentioned before, and this slideshow, that they're not in any other Epstein files. In other words, isn't that strange?

Starting point is 00:10:38 Isn't that curious? And then they highlight that when you look at the FBI case files and documents that were sent over to Galane Maxwell and her attorney, during her federal criminal case on sex trafficking of minors charges, this new claim takes on a very different meaning. Because NPR makes the point that the FBI actually interviewed this Trump accuser who was claiming abuse in the 1980s four times in 2019. Now, this is reporting that is also supported by MS Now, who claims they two found that there was only one memo regarding these multiple interoperating.

Starting point is 00:11:17 with this woman, that there were no handwritten notes found. So in other words, this account about this woman saying she was abused by Donald Trump in the 1980s was taken seriously, there were follow-up interviews. But in the Epstein files, you can't find out any more information about it. Now, how does NPR know that this accuser was interviewed four times? This is where it gets a little bit tricky. So in their article, they cite an FBI serial report. Now, they don't provide a hyperlink embedded. in the article. So I don't see the actual document that they're referring to in the Epstein

Starting point is 00:11:52 Files Library on the DOJ website. Like, I can't find this FBI serial report. Maybe you guys out there can find it where it would show, hey, this accuser was interviewed four times. I couldn't find it. But NPR also cites a list of non-testifying witness material in Galangin Maxwell's case. Okay. Now, I did find this. And NPR claims that there is only one of four interviews with this accuser in the database. And how does this non-testifying witness list prove that? So I go to the reporting from independent political reporter Roger Solenberger. And by the way, NPR even cites his reporting. He claimed, on X, that this Trump accuser's case file number is 3501.045. Now, to be clear, I'm not sure how he knows this, but assume for a moment that he's correct. When you go to page eight of this

Starting point is 00:12:43 full chart, next to that file number, there do appear to be four separate interviews on four separate dates. They're called 302 interviews. 302 is the form that's used by the FBI to memorialize an interview and usually includes handwritten notes that are later used to support testimony. But according to Solemberger and NPR and MS Now, there is only one interview that is available and able to be seen in the Epstein files, the one seemingly conducted on July 24th, 2019, this initial one. So now you might be saying, okay, where are the other interviews with this person or about this person, right? I'm going to get to that. But if you go to this first interview, okay, and again, seemingly the only publicly available interview with this person.

Starting point is 00:13:30 And if we assume this is the Trump accuser, this person describes mostly her abuse at the hands of Epstein. But then I want you to listen to this section that is in the interview. It says, quote, Redacted later viewed the image sent to her with her friend and neighbor Redacted. Redacted told Redacted, that is the person who has caused me great harm and affected my entire life. He's a nightmare. Upon requests by the agents, Redacted accessed the image. And before she showed the picture to the interviewing agents, Redacted asked whether she could crop the photograph to include only the man she was referring to, essentially cropping out one or more individuals also included in the picture. Redacted attorney, Mr. Redacted, offhandedly mentioned the word president while looking at the image on the cell phone.

Starting point is 00:14:17 The agents asked whether Redacted would be comfortable explaining why she wanted to crop the photograph. When Redacted hesitated, redacted attorney, advised Redacted, was concerned about implicating additional individuals and specifically any that were well known due to fear of retaliation. The agents advised Redacted, she could crop the image to show only what she felt. felt comfortable with if she felt it was necessary. Administrative note, Redacted agreed to allow the agents to take a photograph of the cropped image. Of note, the particular image sent to her by Redacted was recognized by agents as a widely distributed photograph of Jeffrey Epstein and current United States President Donald Trump.

Starting point is 00:14:57 The cropped image Redacted provided to the agents only included Jeffrey Epstein. Redacted advised the agent. She was 100% positive. The man in the photograph was Jeff, the man who she initially believed, she was hired to babysit for and who sexually abused redacted multiple times beginning when she was approximately 13 years old on redacted. So if I understand this correctly, this interview, she doesn't come out and say that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her or anybody else. Rather, there seems to be an effort to make sure he's not included in her allegations. There is a hint of concern regarding Trump being identified, right? Now, why? Could it be

Starting point is 00:15:38 that she's scared? Could it be that something really did happen and she's legitimately afraid of retaliation? Or does she not want to give off the false concept that the president was involved in something that he really wasn't? And again, according to NPR's reporting, there are more interviews about this that are just missing that haven't been publicly released. And we do not know what is in them. Again, this is based on NPR's reporting and MS now supports it. And Roger Solemberger supports it. So you go back to NPR's initial claim that there are missing more than 50 pages of FBI interviews and notes with this woman who allegedly accused Trump of sexual abuse. And more specifically, the outlet claims that out of 15 documents listed in that log related to this accuser or this accusation,

Starting point is 00:16:25 only seven are in the Epstein file library and also missing are the notes that accompany the interviews with this person. And this is important. According to NPR's analysis of the file, They say when you look at the sets of serial numbers of these documents, there are about 53 pages missing. Now, it's possible that those interview documents are buried in the millions and millions of documents released. So it doesn't show up when you search the library, but is it true that it was deleted? Where is all this? If that's true, why? Is it really about the president?

Starting point is 00:16:58 Is it really about these allegations? Why are they not there? And particularly if you're talking about a Trump accuser, what was allegedly said in those interviews? Was it subject to privilege? Was it subject to another exception? Was it part of an ongoing investigation? Did it have personally identifiable information about a victim? And it couldn't be released?

Starting point is 00:17:18 Seems strange, considering that interview that was released had very graphic details. Was it non-responsive to the Epstein case? Probably unlikely. So why wasn't it produced if this reporting is true? Look, as of right now, there is not a clear explanation. So in other words, this accusation about Trump allegedly abusing a young girl in the 1980s was taken seriously enough to seemingly warrant multiple interviews about this. We don't know what was said. And look, I'm piecing together the reporting from Solemberger and NPR and MS Now to kind of make sense of all this and these allegations.

Starting point is 00:17:49 But if true, you can understand why this is concerning. And one of the things that both NPR and MS Now highlight is this internal FBI email that was dated July 22nd, 2025, regarding names in J.E. file. And under Pondes, positive case hits highlighted in yellow, which is meant to represent salacious information. It states, Donald Trump, one identified victim claimed abuse by Trump, but ultimately refused to cooperate. Now, we don't know for sure if that is the same person that we've been talking about, but it's possible. And it should also be noted that next to other names on this list, like Bill Gates, Jean-Luc Brunel, Lex Wexner, Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump is the only one with a note like that next to his name. Now, there is a second part to the NPR reporting I want to talk about. Remember when I said there was a second claim from a different person in that FBI slideshow redacted, remembered Epstein

Starting point is 00:18:47 introduced her to Trump saying this is a good one, huh? And Trump responded, yes. It seems this accuser is file number 3509. I mean, that's the file number on her interview, which I'll talk about. and that number is listed in a testifying witness 3,500 material list in Galane Maxwell's criminal trial. 3,500 material are statements of government witnesses. Anyway, when you look at 3509 in this list and as reported by NPR, there appear to be six interviews. And what appears to be the first one where she claimed she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein as a child, it says this. In the beginning, before the Poolehouse incident, Epstein showed off to Redacted. Epstein told Redacted that he had famous friends that he would call and put on speakerphone.

Starting point is 00:19:31 Epstein took Redacted in a dark green car to Mara Lago to meet Donald Trump. Epstein told Trump, this is a good one, huh? Thought Epstein introduced her as his friend to Trump. Now, NPR also notes that in a lawsuit against Epstein's estate and Galane Maxwell, this accuser even added that she, quote, felt uncomfortable, but at the same time was too young to understand why, meaning she felt uncomfortable about this interaction. Now, why am I mentioning this? Well, NPR alleges that this interview was removed from the Epstein database after initial publication and then was republished 20 days later. So somebody will look at this and say, that seems suspicious. Now, I will tell you, NPR explains that the DOJ has said it removed and then re-uploaded files because a victim or their attorney would flag it for review, so possibly to add redactions. Maybe that's what happened here. I mean, there was a lot of controversy regarding the DOJ failing to properly. protect victim identifiable information. But NPR further claims that another mention about this accuser

Starting point is 00:20:31 that made a small mention of Donald Trump was also removed from the database. And then it was republished. And then they say there was another interview that was taken offline, although I will tell you, I think it may be back up now if this is the same document they're talking about. It's basically about the same accuser. And there's this brief mention of Donald Trump. It says this, redacted, told redacted that Maxwell and Epstein used to visit her at redacted. Redacted would tell redacted the famous people would go to Epstein's house. Redacted heard that a prince and Donald Trump visited Epstein's house and this main redacted think that if they are there, then how could Epstein be a criminal? I'm just mentioning this because you're going to hear allegations that anything about Trump or a

Starting point is 00:21:09 lot of things about Trump were taken offline or were taken offline and republished. So there's going to be accusations that things were edited or material was omitted. I'm just mentioning it for this point. Now, as we're talking about allegations of not including Donald Trump related materials in the Epstein files release. MS now reported something else. Jane. Jane was an accuser who testified against Maxwell at her criminal trial and described her abuse at the hands of Maxwell and Epstein. And while Jane testified that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago when she was just 14 years old, MS now claims that handwritten notes from her interview and a witness statement from someone apparently close to her, allegedly that stuff nowhere to be found in the Epstein files. So either

Starting point is 00:21:53 they weren't included or they were possibly taken down. That seems to be the allegation from this reporting. Now, NPR claims that the DOJ has reached out to them in response that a spokesperson said that any documents that were not published are because they're privileged, their duplicates, they're related to an ongoing federal investigation. You had White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson tell NPR that quote, Trump has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him, just as President Trump has said. He's been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein. and by releasing thousands of pages of documents cooperating with the House Oversight Committee's subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act and calling for more investigations into Epstein's Democrat friends.

Starting point is 00:22:34 President Trump has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him. Meanwhile, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. On X, the Oversight Democrats account released the following statement from Ranking Member Robert Garcia. For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats, have been investigating the FBI's handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor. Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Department of Justice. Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally with FBI interviews

Starting point is 00:23:09 with the survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes. Oversight Democrats will open a parallel investigation into this. Under the Oversight Committee subpoena and the Epstein-Files Transparency Act, these records must immediately be shared with Congress and the American public. covering up direct evidence of potential assault by the president of the United States is the most serious possible crime in this White House cover-up. The DOJ Rapid Response account on X posted at Oversight Democrats should stop misleading the public while manufacturing outrage from their radical anti-Trump base at the Justice Department, as repeatedly said publicly and directly to NPR prior to deadline, nothing has been deleted. If files are temporarily pulled for victim redactions or to redact personally identifiable information, then those documents are promptly restructured. stored online and are publicly available. All responsive documents have been produced unless the document

Starting point is 00:24:00 falls within one of the following categories, duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation. Look, I hope this all made sense, okay? But again, this is based on reporting from NPR, MS Now, Solemberger. The story is circulating right now. I imagine this is not the last we will hear of it. We will see if these interviews, the interview notes, more information is actually published. And whether or not there's a follow-up on that. but we'll keep a very careful eye on what happens on this particular Epstein topic. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us.

Starting point is 00:24:32 And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple, Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. We're also up on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to follow me, X Instagram, my News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.

Law&Crime Sidebar - Epstein Docs Deleted to Protect President Trump?

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