By Scott Raffan
On 30th January, the US Department of Justice released another 3 million pages about the activities of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died in 2019, but his former girlfriend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence.
Some of the most well-known and powerful individuals in society were named and photographed in the files, raising alarm in the public sphere. Instances range from brief mentions from third parties, such as golfer Rory McIlroy, whom Epstein discussed in his communications, to potentially incriminating conversations with close friends such as Bill Gates.
The fight to have these files released was a protracted campaign fought against President Donald Trump and his Republican Party before his U-turn on the 18th November last year, when Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This reversal led to the release of the first batch of Epstein files, which only succeeded in people demanding more, and perhaps illuminating a reason for President Trump and the Republican Party’s general apprehension about releasing the files. Epstein was, in his own words, the President’s “closest friend.”
President Trump was not the only figure to dread the release. Former UK Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, was revealed to be a very close friend of Epstein. A giant in Labour politics for decades, most notably serving as Secretary of State under former PM Gordon Brown, it is known that Mandelson received £50,000 from the financier, as shown in released bank statements. This payment is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as alleged compensation for sensitive market information.
This had proved to be a huge issue for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed him. The PM has since stated he was lied to, and that he made the appointment under the belief Mandelson’s connection to Epstein was much more distant than was revealed. He said in a fiery press conference on Thursday: “None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship.”
Nevertheless, Starmer’s appointment of the disgraced Peer is being heavily scrutinised. Mandelson resigned from his post in the US in September and has recently resigned his seat in the House of Lords. There have been calls for Starmer to release the ‘Mandelson Files’, which the BBC estimates to be around 100,000 documents.
The disclosure of the files also caused further embarrassment to Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III. The former Duke of York’s close relationship with Epstein was well known, dating back to 2019 when he was grilled in a humiliating BBC Newsnight interview.
Andrew’s relationship goes back even further, to at least the late 90s, when Epstein and Maxwell attended Balmoral with him. The first allegation came from the late Virginia Giuffre in 2001, with Giuffre alleging she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to engage in intercourse with the former prince.
Investigations into Epstein’s conduct began in 2005, and despite an arrest and indictment warrant being issued due to Epstein for alleged crimes involving a minor, their relationship continued, and Epstein was in attendance at the 18th birthday of Andrew’s daughter in Windsor Castle in 2006.
Epstein was handed a custodial sentence in 2008 for 18 months for one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18, before his arrest in 2019 on new sex trafficking charges brought by New York prosecutors.
Andrew has faced no legal punishments but has been stripped of his title, his home and his honours.* He is now essentially a private citizen and is referred to as Andrew Mountbatten – Windsor. Though previously residing at the royal lodge, the former prince was evicted in recent weeks.
Bill Gates was also revealed to have had closer-than-thought relations with Epstein. The Microsoft billionaire was perhaps one of the worst hit by the release of these files. Within the released files were emails that Epstein had sent to Gates advising about how to treat sexually transmitted diseases for him and his wife in relation to “the consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
These emails were drafts found on Epstein’s account, and it is unclear if they were ever discussed with Gates. Gates completely denies that the alleged events took place and, instead, claims that Epstein is lying. Gates’s ex-wife, Milinda, has been upset by this news and has publicly called for justice for the victims.
Apart from the arrest of Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell the year after, there have been no other related arrests. This has fueled theories that certain individuals or groups are being protected, with large parts of documents being redacted and hidden from the public. The FBI was considering charges against 10 of Epstein’s alleged associates, but all of these, except Maxwell’s, were dropped.
The US Department of Justice began releasing documents in December 2025 before coming to a halt, claiming it “needed more time to review the records.”
Upon continuing the release of the Epstein files in January 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated there are more than 3 million pages of documents, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
Many of the released files have been heavily redacted, which the US Department of Justice has stated are in place to protect victims’ identities. Yet, thousands of victims’ identities have been exposed, despite these assurances from the DOJ. One of Epstein’s victims, Marina Lacerda, called the redactions “another slap in the face”, appearing on MS NOW.
“All of us are infuriated by this. We expected way more.”
Another victim, Jess Michaels, said on CNN that she spent hours searching through the released documents for any record of her victim’s statements or her call to an FBI tipline, but did not find either. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.” She told CNN.
With growing uncertainty, victims of Epstein, amongst many others in the public, continue to call for transparency.
*UK Police forces arrested the former prince on suspicion of misconduct in public office on Thursday.