An email by "A" from "Balmoral" asked Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell for "inappropriate friends", new documents released by the US Department of Justice show
The sender asks: "Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?" and the sign-off reads: "See ya A xxx"
It was sent from an address using the alias "The Invisible Man" – a pen name that was also used alongside a separate email address listed in Epstein's phone book as "Duke of York"
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing – he lost use of his Duke of York title following scrutiny over his links with Epstein
Elsewhere, Donald Trump was listed as a passenger on Epstein's private jet on eight flights between 1993 and 1996
Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and his alleged presence on the flights does not indicate wrongdoing
Both emails appear in the largest batch so far of the Epstein files – the documents it holds relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Edited by Jack Burgess and Emily Atkinson
Kayla Epstein
US reporter
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump (pictured here in 1997) were friends for years, though the US president says he had a falling out with him in the early 2000s
One thing that's clear is that President Donald Trump's name makes more appearances in this release than the previous drop on Friday.
Notably, a 7 January 2020 email from a federal prosecutor in New York says flight records reflect that Trump "travelled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported".
Trump was a passenger on "at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996," the prosecutor said – read more about this document.
Many other mentions of Trump in this document drop are from news clippings.
Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Trump's presence in this batch of Epstein files is interesting, but it's too early to see if there will be any political consequences.
Over the weekend, the president expressed frustration.
"Everybody was friendly with this guy (Epstein)," Trump said.
Later, he commented that most of the people shown in the files met Epstein "innocently".
"But they're in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody," the president added.
Michael Jackson and Diana Ross in a photograph with Bill Clinton
We're still going through the latest drop of Epstein files by the Department of Justice.
While we're combing through the details, here's a reminder of some of the details from the seven other batches of files published over the weekend.
An evidence tape labelled Metropolitan Correction Center and dated four days after Epstein died by suicide
The latest tranche of files released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) is the eighth release since Friday.
It's the latest in a string of long-awaited materials it holds relating to criminal investigations into disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
If you're just joining us, here's what we've found so far today:
Jeffrey Epstein poses for a picture with singer Michael Jackson in files released last week
The investigation into Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein reached a plea deal with prosecutors in 2008, after the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter.
Photos of girls were found throughout the house, and he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He escaped a heavy jail sentence as a result of the deal.
Eleven years later, he was charged with running a network of underage girls for sex. He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide.
Why are the files being released now?
Pressure has been building for months from across the political spectrum for more transparency into the investigations.
After initially resisting calls for the files' release, US President Donald Trump reversed course and urged Republicans to support disclosure of the records.
Congress then passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the justice department to release all its investigative material related to Epstein by the end of day on 19 December.
Partial release of 'the Epstein files’
A large collection of documents, including court and telephone records – and thousands of images – was uploaded on Friday night to the US Department of Justice website.
It's the result of two criminal investigations culminating in the so-called Epstein files.
It was only the partial release of the justice department's documents, and many pages were heavily redacted – with some blacked out in full.
This sparked criticism from victims and lawmakers alike. The White House says the Trump administration is "the most transparent in history", and the justice department says the omissions are necessary to protect victims and for continuing investigations.
Among the latest tranche of documents is an email sent to Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, from an email address titled "The Invisible Man".
Sent on 16 August 2001, the email begins: "I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family."
Lower down, the sender asks: "Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?" The sign-off reads: "See ya A xxx."
Here's the message in full:
The message was sent from this email address: abx17@dial.pipex.com.
In an email sent to this address on the same day, Maxwell writes: "So sorry to dissapoint [sic] you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends."
A different email address – aace@dial.pipex.com – is listed in Epstein's phone book under a contact labelled "Duke of York", an image of which was shared in an earlier release.
Among the documents released are emails sent from both addresses under the alias "The Invisible Man", including one from the second address sent on 28 February 2002 signed off: "Masses of love A xx."
The emails do not indicate any wrongdoing. The BBC has contacted Mountbatten-Windsor's team for a response.
In October, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lost use of his Duke of York title following scrutiny over his links with Epstein.
He has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, and said he did not "see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his [Epstein’s] arrest and conviction".
Emily Atkinson
Live editor
As a reminder, more than 11,000 files have been released by the US department of justice today, including emails, videos and audio files.
There's a huge amount to comb through and verify.
Sometimes it's the smallest details – a redacted name, a typo – that can slow us down. More often, though, it's the long process of unravelling claims.
This includes cross-referencing the documents, checking them against previous reporting, having conversations with different BBC teams and contacting representatives for those connected.
We're still picking through all of the material. We'll share any notable disclosures as soon as we can.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) says nearly 30,000 additional pages of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein have been released.
It urges caution on some that reference the US president, without specifying which ones.
"Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election," the DoJ says in a statement posted on X.
"To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.
"Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DoJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims."
By Anthony Reuben
One of the Epstein documents, external is an email saying that “Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”
The email was sent on 7 January 2020 and is part of an email chain which includes the subject heading: "RE: Epstein flight records."
The sender and recipient are redacted, but at the bottom of the email is assistant US attorney, Southern District of New York – with the name redacted.
The email states: “He is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric.”
“On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old” – with the person’s name redacted.
It goes on: “On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case.”
In 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison, external for crimes including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and sex trafficking of a minor.
Trump was a friend of Epstein's for years, but the president has said they fell out in about 2004 – years before Epstein was first arrested. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and his presence on the flights does not indicate wrongdoing.
We have contacted the White House for a response to this particular file.
Extracts from the 2020 email, released by the US Department of Justice
The files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) relating to Jeffrey Epstein contain a number of redactions – so what's been withheld, and why?
The DoJ says it was extremely cautious not to identify victims, so women's faces were blacked out on photos that were made public.
"Victim privacy interests counsel in favour of redacting the faces of women in photographs with Epstein even where not all the women are known to be victims because it is not practicable for the department to identify every person in a photo,” US attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton has written in a letter to the judges overseeing the Epstein and Maxwell cases.
He adds that "this approach to photographs could be viewed by some as an over-redaction" – but continues that "the department believes it should, in the compressed time frame, err on the side of redacting to protect victims.”
Other redactions are believed to have been made as they might jeopardise an active criminal investigation, or contain images of abuse.
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and former US president Bill Clinton were pictured together in the files released over the weekend
Several notable figures have been pictured in the files that released prior to today.
The US justice department has not provided any context for the images, making it difficult to piece together when or where they were taken.
Being pictured in the files is not an indication of any wrongdoing. Many of those identified have denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Here’s a roundup of the famous faces we’ve seen:
Clinton swims in a pool with two women
Jeffrey Epstein with his long-time associate, Ghislaine Maxwell
Within this latest release – which includes more than 11,000 files – are images of an old United States passport belonging to Jeffrey Epstein.
It was issued in February 1985 and expired in 1995.
Below his signature is black and white passport photo of Epstein dressed in a suit and tie.
In Friday's batch of material we saw another one of Epstein's passports – issued in March 2009 – which you can see below for comparison.
Our teams are looking through the material that's just dropped.
When it comes to images, the first thing we do is check if they’ve previously appeared online via a reverse image search.
If there are people featured in the images who we don't recognise, we'll use publicly available facial recognition tools, but they aren't always reliable so we might need further corroboration.
We're also combing through the text documents and any video – we'll bring you details as soon as we can.
James FitzGerald
North America reporter
Donald Trump has repeatedly said the ongoing conversation around Epstein is distracting from his work as US president. It's a point he reiterated to reporters yesterday at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
But the pressure on his administration to release all the files that it has on Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, is not going away.
The information released by the DoJ so far has been criticised by campaigners in Washington and beyond over the amount of material that was withheld or redacted. Survivors of Epstein's abuse said only a "fraction" of what is in the possession of the US justice department was made public.
Compounding the potential political headache for Trump was the fact that a member of his own Republican Party, Thomas Massie, joined an opposition Democrat, Ro Khanna, in threatening legal action against Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, over what they saw as an incomplete release on Friday.
The justice department, led by Bondi, insists it is complying with its legal obligations to both publish the information that it holds about Epstein while also protecting his victims. As Friday came and went, it promised that more files would be made public. Some of those additional files have now landed.
On Monday, Donald Trump made his first comments on the so-called Epstein files, following the publication of an initial tranche on Friday.
He dismissed the intense speculation over what was – and wasn't included – as distracting from his party's achievements.
While President Trump has scarcely been mentioned in the previous batches of released, former US president Bill Clinton has featured prominently in some of the photos shared.
Asked for his reaction, Trump said: "I like Bill Clinton. I hate to see photos come out of him. There's photos of me too. Everybody was friendly with this guy (Epstein).
"You probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago, and they're highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.
"But they're in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody."
The US president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. Previously, Trump said he was a friend of Epstein's for years, but said they fell out in about 2004 – years before Epstein was first arrested.
Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter
Today's release follows the publication of several batches of files by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the weekend.
So, what was released then?
These are not to be confused with…
Upwards of 11,000 files have been published by the DoJ in this latest drop.
This includes nearly 400 videos, evidence spreadsheets, part clippings and audio files.
The file is 10GB in size – the largest dump to date.
To reiterate, trawling through these files can be quite the operation and it may take us time to strike on news lines.
We'll share any interesting disclosures as we see them.
The files appeared overnight on the US Department of Justice website
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has released another tranche of documents relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This latest batch contains thousands of files including images and investigative documents.
It follows the passing of a law in Congress mandating the so-called Epstein files be released in their entirety by Friday.
Due to the volume, the DoJ said it would not be able to release all of the documents by the deadline and would instead publish the material on a rolling basis, redacting any information relating to survivors.
This has angered Democrats – and some Republicans, including those in Trump's core MAGA support base – who argue the DoJ has violated its legal obligations.
Today's release is the eighth since Friday. We'll walk you through what we've learned from the other seven in due course.
It will take us some time – likely several hours – to go through all of the material released today.
Our team in the newsroom, alongside colleagues from the investigations unit and BBC Verify, are picking through the files now.
We'll share any significant disclosures on this page – stay with us.
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