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By Alex J. SchorrMarch 17, 2026 — Americans widely disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, with a majority believing that Trump was involved with or committed crimes alongside the dead sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nearly three quarters say that the government is covering up additional information connected to Epstein, alleging deeply systemic corruption within the federal government, and a similar number want more prosecutions.
President Donald Trump is mentioned 38,000 times in the Epstein files, including multiple graphic allegations of rape and sexual abuse involving underage girls. The Justice Department has drawn criticism for selective redactions and omissions in the Epstein files released to date.
Now, new evidence suggests a possible cover-up involving the death of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in prison, following revelations that a prison guard deposited thousands of dollars into his bank account shortly before Epstein was found hanged in his cell.
Was Epstein killed to silence him?
On March 13, the House Oversight Committee requested that Tova Noel, one of two guards on the night Jeffrey Epstein died in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019, appear for a transcribed interview next week, on March 26. This scrutiny and potential testimony follows concern over the nature of Jeffrey Epstein’s death, which was officially ruled a suicide. But new evidence suggests he may have been murdered, potentially to silence him from implicating powerful men in Epstein’s sex trafficking scandal.
Noel is a former federal correctional officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York. Bank records recently made public show Noel made a $5,000 cash deposit 10 days before Epstein’s death, which was one of several deposits totaling about $12,000 flagged as suspicious by her bank.
Department of Justice (DOJ) documents suggest that Noel was the “mysterious orange shape” seen on blurry surveillance footage approaching Epstein’s tier at 10:40 p.m. the night he died, despite her earlier sworn statements that she did not distribute linens that night. Noel and her partner Michael Thomas were originally charged in 2019 with falsifying prison records to hide their failure to perform required 30-minute checks.
Prosecutors alleged that the guards spent their shift sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring inmates. In 2021, they entered a deferred prosecution agreement requiring community service and cooperation with investigators, with the charges being dismissed.
Was the prison guard paid to kill Epstein, or not check his cell while someone else did so? House Testimony next week may provide more illuminating information.
A mockery, a cover-up and a lack of accountability
Some European officials have resigned following revelations of their presence in the files. Most notably, Britain’s Prince Andrew has been stripped of his title and is under criminal investigation based on the allegations raised in the Epstein files. Some U.S. corporate leaders named in the Epstein files have also been held accountable.
Yet there have been very few consequences for U.S. politicians or elites named in the files: recent unsealed court records and DOJ files list prominent names including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Gates and Richard Branson.
It is important to note that inclusion in these files indicates a connection and not necessarily proof of knowledge or participation in Epstein’s crimes. Many of those named say they are innocent of any crimes.
Recently, there has been the conviction of Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander for 10 criminal counts in their sex trafficking trial, and they were also featured in the Epstein Files. The brothers, previously high-level luxury estate brokers and security executives, were found guilty in a Manhattan court for conspiracy to drug and sexually assault dozens of women and girls.
Since February of 2026, the DOJ has faced criticism for a “messy” and “clumsy” release of over 3 million documents, images, and videos related to Epstein. The DOJ and subsequently the Trump administration has been blasted for its redactions, as it not only did not follow the protocols of The Epstein Transparency Act, it blocked out the images and names of various high profile figures while exposing and denigrating the victims.
Despite the legal requirements to protect survivors, the DOJ released unredacted names and sensitive materials, including nude photos of victims. One analysis found that 43 names and dozens of images of young women, some potentially minors at the time, were left unredacted. In contrast, bigger portions of the files— being names of “high-profle” suspects and details of "anticipated charges”— remain heavily blacked out. Lawmakers have pointed to instances where a list of about 20 names had every entry redacted except for Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche have been confronted in Congress over these “ham-fisted” redactions, with critics arguing that the DOJ is acting like a private law firm for powerful figures rather than an agency seeking public accountability. Additionally, it is worth noting and recalling that in September of 2025 during a series of contentious congressional hearings, FBI Director Kash Patel faced intense accusations of providing false testimony regarding Epstein’s sex trafficking, as he claimed that Epstein had not trafficked to anyone else, and yet the current evidence says otherwise.
In total, the DOJ identified six million pages of evidence so far, but it has released only 3.5 million pages, including some 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. The pages consist of email chains, text messages, news articles, and other material tied to Epstein, such as flight logs and FBI interviews.
The Justice Department has withheld nearly 48,000 files connected to Jeffrey Epstein investigations even after releasing millions of pages under the Epstein Transparency Act. The missing documents are drawing scrutiny and condemnation from the public and lawmakers who say that they plan to intensify oversight and demand answers about what remains undisclosed.
According to a review from the Justice Department’s Epstein document released by The New York Times in early 2026, Donald Trump’s name appeared more than 38,000 times across at least 5,300 individual files. These documents include court records, contact lists, and media clippings, with many of these mentions being repeated references rather than unique or direct allegations. Trump is also listed as a passenger on Epstein’s plane at least eight times between 1993 and 1997.
Sexual abuse allegations against Donald Trump
Multiple women have accused Donald Trump of sexual abuse when they were underage.
The trove of documents released by the Justice Department from its investigations into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein failed to include key materials relayed to a woman who made an accusation against President Trump.
The materials are FBI memos summarizing interviews that the bureau did in connection to claims made in 2019 by a woman who came forward after Epstein’s arrest to say that she had been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein decades earlier when she was a minor. The existence of the memos was revealed in an index listing the investigative materials related to her account, which was publicly released.
Screenshot of the “King of the World” statue installation by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake outside in Washington, D.C., depicting President Donald Trump and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.According to the index, the FBI conducted four interviews with her claims and wrote summaries about each one: only one of the summaries, which describes her accusations against Epstein, was released by the Justice Department, but the other three are missing. The public files did not include the underlying interview notes, which the index indicates are part of the file. The Justice Department released similar notes in connection to FBI interviews with other potential witnesses and victims.
These documents, originally reported on by Roger Sullenberger of the Daily Beast, detailed a witness who came forward in 2019 and spoke to the FBI on four separate occasions, where she gave information about Epstein. Shortly after her interviews, Epstein was found dead in his cell two days later.
The individual has lobbed some horrific accusations against Donald Trump especially, in that he was in fact engaged in activities with minors and that at one instance, he became physically violent.
Within this 21 page slideshow related to the Epstein files, President Trump was accused of trying to orally rape a 13 to 14 year old girl who then bit his genitals, and he then allegedly struck her on the head and kicked her out. This comes from an unproven allegation contained among the 3.5 million pages of investigatory files connected to Jeffrey Epstein. The same woman told the DOJ that Epstein was the one who “introduced her to Trump in 1984.”
The accusation which allegedly occurred 35 years ago sometime between 1983 and 1985, was made secondhand by a friend of the accuser and then relayed from an unknown contact to the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in New York.
The Epstein files reveal that the FBI met multiple times with Katie Johnson, who filed a lawsuit accusing Trump and Epstein of raping her when she was 13, after luring her to parties with underage girls. Among other details, her lawsuit claimed Trump tied her to a bed before sexually assaulting her and that she was held as a “sex slave.”
Johnson dropped her lawsuit in 2016, claiming that her life had been threatened.
Based on information emerging in early 2026, Sascha Riley (sometimes referred to as Sasha Riley) is an individual alleged to be a survivor of a child trafficking network associated with Jeffrey Epstein. A series of unverified audio recordings featuring Riley went viral between January and February, which detailed serious allegations against high-profile public and political figures.
Riley has an expressed readiness to testify against President Donald Trump, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It is important to emphasize that these claims are still unverified and still need to be substantiated. No known court records, medical reports, or witness testimony are available.
Riley is reportedly an Iraq War veteran who claims to have been trafficked between the ages of 9 and 13. In audio recordings, Riley alleges that Donald Trump was the “big boss” in a trafficking network which included Epstein. The allegations and details are graphic.
Currently, the claims made by Sascha Riley have not been validated by law enforcement or in a court of law. While some, including psychologists, have suggested that the testimony aligns with trauma narratives, others have expressed skepticism due to the extreme nature of Riley’s claims and the lack of independent, mainstream, or official verification.
According to his testimony, Riley was adopted and trafficked in 1977 from early childhood — first to relatives and then later to the Trump/Epstein Network. He claims to be a victim of rape, torture, a witness to murder, and alleges that he was forced to participate in child pornographic films.
Riley’s testimony is part of a series of six audio recordings shared on Substack by Lisa Noelle Voldeng, who claims to have recorded Riley’s testimony during phone interviews. Lisa Voldeng is an independent journalist and Substack creator and host of the newsletter Outlaws of Chivalry.
Voldeng claims that Riley’s accounts have been shared with law enforcement and that Riley has moved out of the United States for safety concerns after being contacted by the FBI in the summer of 2025.
In the unredacted audio files titled “Don’t Worry, Boys are Hard to Find,” Riley alleges that he was just one of many victims of a high-level systemic trafficking network linked to Jeffrey Epstein. Voldeng continued to publish updates and supplemental materials related to these allegations on her Substack page.
Fact-checkers like Snopes have noted that while some details such as flight logs have points of contact with known facts, the more extreme allegations lack corroborating evidence. Critics point to inconsistencies in timelines and a lack of primary documentation, while supporters argue that the detailed nature of the testimony warrants a full congressional or criminal investigation.
Newly released documents from the DOJ-related Jeffrey Epstein case included a 2020 FBI intake form containing a woman’s unverified allegations against Donald Trump.
Labeled File EFTA255010, an anonymous woman alleged that in 1984 at the age of 13 years old, she was trafficked by her uncle and Jeffrey Epstein, and had given birth to a daughter on a yacht in Lake Michigan. She claimed that her newborn was murdered and the body was disposed of in the lake. The woman listed Donald Trump as a witness and participant of the body’s disposal, claiming that he was a “regular” at such events.
The document is an FBI intake form — a record of a received tip — not a verified investigative report. The FBI has not confirmed or corroborated these claims with physical evidence or secondary witnesses. The Department of Justice issued a warning alongside the file release, stating that some documents contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” submitted just before the 2020 election.
President Trump has denied all wrongdoings related to Epstein and dismissed the claims. The release of these files was mandated by the Epstein Transparency Act of 2025, which required the disclosure of all related unclassified materials.
Thus far, The Epstein Transparency Act has not helped to bring justice or accountability to the deeds of Epstein’s inner circle and the generational harm that it has done within the United States as a result of the Trump Administration.
The Zorro Ranch
Screenshot of the Zorro Ranch from MS NOW
As of March 2026, the Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico — formerly owned by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — is under investigation by state authorities and has been rebanded by new owners for use as a religious retreat. The search follows the newly released Epstein files and tips that prompted the state attorney general to order investigators onto the property.
The ranch was never searched during earlier federal investigations, with state officials saying that the current owners consented to the search while a bipartisan commission continues examining what occurred at the property. The renewed interest stems from recently unsealed FBI files containing an anonymous tip that the bodies of two girls were buried on the grounds.
The New Mexico House of Representatives unanimously established a bipartisan “Truth Commission” in February 2026 to investigate decades of alleged abuse and trafficking at the site.
The property was sold in August 2023 for approximately $13.4 million to the family of Don Huffines, a Dallas real estate developer and former Texas state senator. The family renamed the estate Rancho de San Rafael after the patron saint of healing. The current owners are reportedly cooperating with investigators, stating an importance to “put light in a dark place.”
The estate covers roughly 7,600 acres and includes a 26,700 square foot mansion, a private airstrip, a helicopter pad, and several other residences. Recent records show that Epstein moved ancient Native American petroglyphs on the land to use as garden decorations.
The numerous survivors like Virginia Giuffre and Annie Farmer testified about being trafficked and abused at the ranch between 1993 and 2019. Attorney General Raúl Torrez has pledged to issue a public report once the investigation concludes, aiming to provide a “complete and transparent accounting” for survivors and the public.
Back in 2019, federal authorities under the Trump administration requested that New Mexico state officials pause their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch. According to recent statements from the state attorney general Raúl Torrez and other state officials, this request was made to avoid a “parallel investigation” while federal prosecutors in New York were handling the broader case against Epstein.
Apparently, Epstein planned to use the ranch for a eugenics-inspired project to “seed the human race” with his DNA by impregnating up to 20 women at a time. At least 10 have alleged that this activity started in the mid-1990s, with Epstein grooming or abusing them at the ranch, with half of the victims being teenagers. Even now, no one has truly or fully been fully held accountable for the crimes committed at the Zorro Ranch.
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