The charges against Jeffrey Epstein were announced in New York City on July 8, 2019. Epstein is charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.
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Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon are among those who appeared in a partially edited file released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The committee previously set out to investigate whether the federal government mistreated the lawsuit against Epstein and his co-conspirator Gislain Maxwell.
President Donald Trump has pledged to voters on the campaign trail to release government documents related to Epstein, who was arrested on sex trafficking charges in the summer of 2019 and reportedly killed in a federal prison after committing suicide.
However, since returning to the White House in January, Trump has refused to support the release of the Epstein Files, with Congressional Republicans following his initiative and keeping the documents out of public opinion.
Democrats on the committee on Friday released edited pages from a batch of new files they obtained through their investigation, without providing advanced notification to their fellow Republicans. They were rebuked for the movement.
In a statement Friday, the committee said the batch contained 8,544 documents in response to the August subpoena, and “a further review of documents compiled to protect the identity of the victim is currently underway.”
The latest documents received by the committee from the Department of Justice included an itinerary and notes by Epstein to commemorate the invitations he sent, the trips he planned, and the meetings he booked with technology and business leaders.
Protesters will meet for a press conference in Washington, DC on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files outside the US caption.
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One of the itineraries indicated that Epstein was hoping to travel to a private island in the US Virgin Islands on December 6, 2014, but then asked, “Is this still happening?”
Musk visited Epstein’s New York City mansion in 2019 at Vanity Fair, and although Epstein told him he “took repeatedly to visit his island.” Tesla The CEO had declined.
In June, Musk wrote in X’s post. He believed Trump and his administration were withheld Epstein-related files from the release to protect the president’s reputation.
“Time to drop a really big bomb: @Realdonaldtrump is in the Epstein Files,” wrote Musk at the time, who was in the middle of his release with the president. “That’s the real reason they’re not public. Have a good day, DJT!”
Trump was mentioned in court documents previously published from the Epstein case, but has not been formally accused of fraud.
Musk began the year leading the Trump administration’s government efficiency (DOGE). This is an effort to reduce the size of the federal government and reduce the strength of various regulatory bodies. He left Doge in May, and he and the president threw shaming each other in public over many differences.
But they sat together as Trump and Musk sat together at Charlie Kirk’s re-service ceremony earlier this month after the right-wing activists were assassinated while speaking at a university in Utah.
The partially edited file also showed that Epstein had breakfast with Bannon on February 16, 2019 and lunch with investor Peter Thiel on November 27, 2017.
The file also said in December 2014 that it had booked a “tentative breakfast party” with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, a historically Democratic supporter.
Musk, Tiel, Bannon and Gates were not immediately able to comment.
Watch: House Speaker of the Epstein Files Mike Johnson