type: timeline_event
An NPR investigation published February 24, 2026 revealed that the Department of Justice secretly withheld and removed dozens of pages from the public Epstein files database — specifically records related to sexual abuse accusations against President Donald Trump. The revelation directly contradicted AG Pam Bondi's February 14 letter to Congress asserting that no records had been withheld "on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official."
NPR's review of serial numbers stamped onto publicly released FBI records identified an apparent gap of at least 53 pages of interview documents and notes related to an accuser who said Trump sexually abused her around 1983, when she was also allegedly being abused by Epstein. The FBI interviewed the accuser four times over the course of its Epstein investigation. Only the first interview — conducted July 24, 2019 — appeared in the public database, and that document did not mention Trump. The three subsequent interviews, which sources indicated did reference Trump, were absent. NPR found an FBI email in the publicly released files that listed the accusations against Trump, confirming the files were created but not disclosed.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia issued an immediate statement confirming that "the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Donald Trump of heinous crimes" and announced an investigation into DOJ's handling of the missing files. Garcia called on Bondi to explain the discrepancy within 24 hours.
DOJ spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre offered a categorical denial: "Any documents not published are privileged, are duplicates, or relate to an ongoing federal investigation." The White House issued a statement claiming Trump "has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him." Critics noted that invoking "ongoing investigation" to justify non-disclosure was the same rationale the DOJ had used for two months before DAG Blanche announced on February 2 that there would be no further prosecutions — making the claim of an ongoing investigation difficult to reconcile with a closed prosecutorial posture.
The disclosure transformed the Epstein files controversy from a process dispute into a direct allegation of presidential self-dealing — using the machinery of federal law enforcement to suppress evidence potentially damaging to the sitting president, while prosecuting political opponents for speech acts the same administration deemed criminal.