Thousands of files relating to criminal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein have been released – featuring Andrew at Sandringham. But critics say the release doesn’t comply with the law, and there is more to come. Follow live as we find out what’s in the new release.
Saturday 20 December 2025 14:22, UK
Famous faces have been pictured alongside Jeffrey Epstein, with other images also showing handwritten notes and a scrapbook.
If you’re just joining – or want to catch up on the newly-released material – we’ve pulled some pictures together for you to go through in one scroll.
They range from a painting of Bill Clinton in a dress, to Epstein posing with famous names like Michael Jackson.
Before you check them out, it’s important to understand one thing: being pictured with Epstein or in these files doesn’t indicate any wrongdoing.
If you want the rest of our live updates, keep scrolling down…
Throughout the day, we have been reporting on Jeffrey Epstein’s convictions in 2008 that saw him avoid federal charges and receive an 18-month prison sentence as part of a plea deal.
We can now bring you the transcript of one of Epstein’s victims testifying in court to a grand jury in Palm Beach, Florida, in April 2007.
A lawyer asks the victim a range of questions relating to her association with Epstein and how he operated.
The victim later became a recruiter for Epstein.
In one section of the testimony, the interviewer asks: “And when you spoke with the police department, you said that at some point Jeffrey said the younger the better?
“That’s correct,” the victim replied.
Epstein “never discussed” the age of those he was asking the victim to recruit, apart from one occasion when he commented on one woman “being too old”, the victim said.
Police in Palm Beach started investigating Epstein in 2005 after he was accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex.
Then the FBI joined the investigation, but Epstein made a secret deal with the US attorney in Florida to dodge federal charges, which allowed him to plead guilty in 2008 to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.
Our data and forensics correspondent Tom Cheshire has been assessing the convictions through new documents released in the Epstein files overnight.
Watch Cheshire’s analysis here…
One of the most eye-catching images from the latest release of the Epstein files is a painting of former US president Bill Clinton in a blue dress with red high heels.
We can now bring you a new image that shows where the painting was being kept and displayed – in a small office room of Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home.
Folders can be seen stored in a wall cabinet above a number of books, bundles of paper and a hole punch on a black desk.
As we’ve been reporting, Clinton has featured prominently in the latest release of documents overnight.
A spokesperson for Clinton has previously acknowledged that he took four trips on Epstein’s private plane in 2002 and 2003, while US media outlets have reported he travelled up to 26 times, citing flight logs.
But Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein, and has not been accused of any by victims.
In his 2024 memoir, Citizen: My Life After the White House, Clinton wrote: “The bottom line is, even though it allowed me to visit the work of my foundation, travelling on Epstein’s plane was not worth the years of questioning afterward. I wish I had never met him.”
If today’s development gives you a sense of deja vu, your instincts are correct.
That’s because we’ve had a fairly steady diet of Epstein file leaks over the years. In November, more than 20,000 documents – and we’ve had several leaks since then, too.
One name everyone has been looking out for is Donald Trump – and as we’ve been reporting today, he’s not really mentioned in this new batch of files.
Trump, Epstein and evidence – a short history
Before we get into his history with the Epstein files before this weekend, a couple of things to make clear.
Firstly, being named or pictured in these documents is not a sign of wrongdoing in itself. Secondly, Trump has always denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
He has been named in papers before:
Flight logs released in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s co-conspirator serving 20 years in prison – show Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane multiple times between 1993 and 1997;
One Epstein accuser in 2016 said she spent several hours with Epstein at a Trump casino, but she did not say if she met Trump;
A letter, bearing Trump’s name and allegedly his signature, was included in a birthday book, containing the words: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump’s recent mentions
As we mentioned, before last night’s drop came the release of more than 20,000 files last month.
That came after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee initially published several emails they said raise “questions about Trump and Epstein’s relationship” and “Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s crimes”.
The White House hit back, claiming the “selectively leaked emails” were an attempt to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
It prompted Republicans to release those more-than-20,000 pages, accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” their documents.
So, where does Trump come in?
The Democrats released three messages, dated between 2011 and 2019, between Epstein and Maxwell, and between Epstein and author Michael Wolff.
Let’s take a look back at each…
‘Dog that hasn’t barked’
In the first exchange of emails, between Epstein and Maxwell, dated 2 April 2011, Epstein wrote:
i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. Virginia spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75% there
Maxwell responded:
I have been thinking about that…
The name Virginia refers to Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein survivor who died in April and had never accused Trump of wrongdoing.
In fact, in a court deposition, she said under oath she didn’t believe Trump had any knowledge of Epstein’s misconduct with underage girls.
Giuffre made allegations of three sexual encounters with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was recently stripped of his prince title, in her autobiography released last month – allegations Andrew has denied.
‘Of course he knew’
In the second exchange of emails, between Epstein and Wolff, a journalist who has written several books about the Trump administration, dated 31 January 2019, Epstein wrote:
[REDACTED NAME] worked at mara lago. . she was the one that accused prince andrew. . trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever.. of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop
What it is alleged he knew – and whether it pertained to the sex offender’s crimes – is not clear.
Trump on CNN
The third email exchange, between Epstein and Wolff, dated between 15 and 16 December 2015, shows Wolff wrote:
I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you–either on air or in scrum afterwards.
Epstein replied:
if we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?
Wolff responded:
I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.
Responding to the release of emails, Wolff posted a video on Instagram: “I have been trying to talk about this story for a very long time now and perhaps we’re getting close to the smoking gun.
“These two men… had the closest of relationships for more than a decade.”
Pre-election messages: ‘I am the one able to take him down’
Other messages mentioning Trump were sent in 2015, a year before he won his first election in 2016, and came as he was gaining momentum as a candidate.
In an email exchange with a reporter from The New York Times in December 2015, with the subject line “Trump”, Epstein wrote:
have them ask my houseman about donald almost walking through the door leaving his nose print on the glass as young women were swimming in the pool and he was so focused he walked straight into the door
In the same email exchange with the reporter, Epstein said:
would you like photos of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen
Epstein does not provide any additional information here.
In another email from March 2018, a person whose name has been redacted said:
It will all blow over! They’re really just trying to take down Trump and doing whatever they can to do that…!
Epstein replied:
yes thx. its wild [sic]. because i am the one able to take him down
It is important to note that the overall context of this email is unknown.
There are still many new pictures included in the Epstein files released overnight, and we have another one here.
It shows what appears to be a massage table in the centre of a room in Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home, covered in a white sheet with a folded blue towel on top.
On the walls of the room are several framed images – three seem to feature naked women. Two of the three are paintings, and the other appears to be a photograph. The women in the images have been redacted.
Various tubs, dispensers and a corded phone are sitting on a small wooden table positioned next to the massage table.
We have reported on other pictures included in the files that show a vibrator, an electric massage device and a massage chair in a room surrounded by masks on the wall (see 23.23 post).
A further image also showed a wooden cabinet containing massage cream and lube (see 7.30 post).
It’s the issue that’s dogged Donald Trump’s second presidency.
Paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell in August 2019, shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.
Rumours have long circulated about his death, and there has also been speculation about who may have visited his private island.
Some of those rumours quickly spiralled into conspiracy theories.
And at the heart of it all are these Epstein files.
What are they?
In short, these are tens of thousands of pages of documents that the US Department of Justice holds on the investigation into the sex offender.
He was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his cell aged 66.
The indictment alleged he sought out minors – some as young as 14 – from at least 2002 to 2005.
He was accused of paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for sexual acts at either his New York City townhouse or his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
He was under investigation in Florida over allegations he preyed on a number of young victims in the mid-2000s.
Ultimately, he cut a deal to plead guilty to state charges involving just one minor.
The justice department said this year he had 1,000 victims.
Haven’t we seen files already?
Tens of thousands of pages of “Epstein files” have become public over the past 20 years, many originating from victims’ lawsuits against Epstein and previous criminal investigations.
But this release is one of the biggest yet, with thousands of files published.
It falls short, however, of what a bipartisan law in Congress demanded – the full release of the files.
Legal row over latest release
Critics say, therefore, that the latest “document dump” broke the law.
Trump administration officials suggested thousands more documents will follow in the next two weeks.
Again, sceptics have suggested this is for political purposes.
Our own US correspondent James Matthews says releasing files which feature Trump more prominently over the Christmas period could give the president a “softer” landing in the news – at a time when people tend to be paying less attention.
Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but has said they fell out in about 2004, years before Epstein was first arrested.
The US president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
More now from the latest batch of documents released as part of the Epstein files this morning.
A series of images captures a collection of call logs that appear to show individuals leaving Jeffrey Epstein a message, or requesting in a message that he calls them back.
In one log, the name ‘Donald Trump’ can be seen written on the line title ‘M’, with the message intended for ‘JE’.
The time is given as 5:15, but no message has been left at the bottom of the log, while the phone number of the messenger has been redacted.
No date has been included on the log in question.
Separate call logs included on the same page of the document, all addressed to ‘JE’, can be seen with the date 11 November 2000.
Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but has said they fell out in about 2004, years before Epstein was first arrested.
The US president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
These call logs have been previously reported.
The real meaning of some documents released in the Epstein files last night may only be understood when his victims speak out, a former senior US adviser has said.
Michael Yaki, who was adviser to former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Sky News he wouldn’t be surprised if more files were released on Christmas Eve, when people will be paying less attention and “newsrooms aren’t that heavily staffed”.
Referencing a photo of a staircase released in the latest tranche of files, he says: “It has no context to us but to some of the victims it may actually have some meaning.
“I think the most important part of this will be, as this information comes out, where will the victims be in terms of being able to correlate or put into context a lot of this information that will be coming out in rather raw form, to the extent that they wish to and want to divulge their information, as painful as it may be.
“They are the real heroes of this – they have been keeping the pressure on non-stop to get this information out there.”
Yaki added: “When we get to see them help us put that narrative together, that’s going to be the real truth-telling as we want to see it.”
We’ve been reporting that Donald Trump has avoided addressing the release of the Epstein files on several occasions.
First, the US president unusually declined to take any interviews at a drug policy press announcement yesterday, before failing to mention the files at a rally in North Carolina last night.
Posting on social media in the last few hours, Trump again swerved the files and focused on two other domestic topics.
He then goes on to talk about a boxing match between former British heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, which took place in Miami overnight.
Paul, who was defeated in the bout, “did really well” and showed “great COURAGE against a very talented and large” opponent, Trump said.
He goes on to describe the fight as “fantastic entertainment”.
Trump added he was heading back to Florida – presumably his Mar a Lago residence – where he has “lots of meetings scheduled”.
Here’s his full Truth Social post, in his own words…
By James Matthews, US correspondent
Can it be a coincidence that US planes attacked Syria around the very time the Epstein files were released?
It would be cynical – then again, it would be how politics works.
Watch: US strikes on ISIS in Syria
PR strategy 101
The deadline-day release of the Epstein files had White House media management written all over it, unredacted.
Type “Trump” into the Department of Justice, and it returned nothing.
Look for former president, Bill Clinton, on the other hand, and he was everywhere.
It was PR strategy 101 – frontload the release of documents with the Democrat stuff and save the Trump content for a soft landing sometime between Christmas and New Year.
By that time, the public will have softened its focus on the story – it’s what the festive season does.
Watch: Trump previously promised to release ‘everything’
Epstein courted celebrity ‘innocents’
The presence of celebrity in the latest release might also feather Trump’s bed.
It’s clear that iconic superstars like Mick Jagger and Diana Ross were courted by Epstein as innocents, ignorant of his criminality.
To see them in the files cements a narrative of a monster who lured the unsuspecting into his orbit.
We support Jagger and Ross as treasured icons, so we remind ourselves that simply being included in the files doesn’t equate to wrongdoing or knowledge of it.
In turn, it shapes an empathy around the predicament that will extend to Trump and, perhaps, the benefit of any doubt.
Of course, not everyone will see it that way – the people who see a cynical exercise in delay and obfuscation, constituting a gross insult to the Epstein survivors at the heart of the story.
Tap below to keep reading the full piece…
…or watch a clip of Matthews reporting from Washington DC.
We can now bring you a new handwritten document from the Epstein files, which was released overnight.
It shows what appear to be two requests in numbered bullet points.
The second request asks for a “bucket of roses” to be dropped off for someone at a high school.
The name of the individual and the high school have been redacted.
More specific instructions then explain when to drop off the flowers – “8:30” – and where they should “give it to her”.
It’s not possible to know who wrote this or who it was for from this image.
The document was published by the US Department of Justice alongside more than 60 pages of other handwritten notes, contracts, receipts and lists.
We reported last night on another note released in the files that reads “for a good time call” with accompanying love heart drawings (see 21.50 post).
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