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New Epstein documents reveal expanded travel with Trump and allegations of institutional failures

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New documents released regarding Jeffrey Epstein include a report of a woman alleging she was raped by US President Benjamin Trump.

The latest release from the Department of Justice concerning the Epstein files sheds light on the FBI’s 2019 investigation into additional suspects who may have assisted Epstein or been involved in his sex trafficking crimes.

The new documents, released Tuesday, contain the names of 10 potential accomplices or suspects that New York prosecutors planned to question in 2019. Three of these suspects are Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, French modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, and the billionaire former owner of Victoria’s Secret, Leslie Wexner, who was once a client of Epstein.

Other names were redacted without explanation. Files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act state that only certain names can be redacted, specifically those of Epstein’s victims.

The Department of Justice has 15 days to explain the exceptions they used to justify the redactions.

Trump flew with Epstein more than previously known between 1993 and 1996

The approximately 10,000 newly released files contain many references to President Trump. Among these is a January 2020 note from an assistant US attorney, revealing that Trump was on many more flights between 1993 and 1996 than the Department of Justice previously knew.

On one flight, there were three passengers: Trump, Epstein, and a 20-year-old woman; on two other flights, the prosecutor noted that Trump was on the plane with two women who could have been potential witnesses in the criminal case they were building against Maxwell at the time.

Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes. In 2024, he stated on the social media platform Truth Social that he was “never on Epstein’s plane or ‘stupid’ island.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Justice noted that a series of documents concerning the president were “untrue and sensational claims” made against Trump ahead of the 2020 election.

Harsh criticism of the Department of Justice “redaction” system

Emails and correspondence regarding Epstein’s 2007 deal in South Florida were also heavily redacted. With few exceptions, the names of all prosecutors were blacked out, making it nearly impossible to understand how his non-prosecution agreement developed, why it was kept secret, and how Epstein obtained federal immunity.

At that time, Epstein was accused of sexually assaulting approximately 40 underage girls at his mansion in Palm Beach. Previously released documents show that the Department of Justice possessed not only victim statements but also supporting evidence such as phone records, text messages, witness testimony, and bank deposit records showing payments made to the girls.

Three documents released in the past were also heavily redacted, including some photographs of older men. However, the names of many of Epstein’s victims appear on the pages, sometimes dozens of times, which led victims to accuse the department of violating the law and attempting to intimidate them; some have demanded the resignations of US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

A series of tips also came into the FBI and the department’s tip line regarding this case. On Tuesday, the department was forced to admit that these tips were completely fake: a letter appearing to be written by Epstein to former US Olympic Gymnastics coach and convicted rapist Larry Nassar spread rapidly online. The Department of Justice eventually had to examine this letter and announced that handwriting analysis revealed Epstein did not write it.

Epstein’s younger brother: They killed my brother with Trump’s approval

Records also show that Epstein’s younger brother, Mark Epstein, submitted a report to the FBI in 2023 claiming his brother was killed in his prison cell because he was “going to name names.”

Reached by phone on Tuesday, Mark Epstein said the FBI never followed up on the matter. The 71-year-old Epstein has long believed his brother was murdered and claims in his report that Trump “approved” this murder.

When asked why he believes Trump was involved in the incident, he asked, “The question is: who would be in a position to organize this and ensure the Department of Justice covers it up?”

Epstein was found hanging in his Manhattan prison cell on August 10, 2019, one month after being arrested in New York on sex trafficking charges. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, but investigations revealed that his prison cell was never properly examined as a potential crime scene.

All but one of the video cameras in Epstein’s cell were recording at the time of death, and some of those recordings went missing.

Many of Epstein’s victims do not believe he committed suicide. Many told the Miami Herald that they feared their lives would be in danger if they spoke publicly about their abusers.

Bannon and former Victoria’s Secret owner Wexner also in the documents

An FBI investigator in the Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit noted on July 9, 2019, that three accomplices in the Epstein case were in Florida, one was in Boston, one was in New York, and one was in Connecticut.

He also noted that one of them was a wealthy businessman living in Ohio, later identified in documents as Wexner. For many years, Epstein managed the financial affairs of Ohio billionaire Les Wexner. The 88-year-old Wexner has always denied any involvement in the sex trafficking leader’s crimes.

Epstein used his relationship with Victoria’s Secret to find victims, promising many of them that he could make them the next Victoria’s Secret model. The files contain an undated statement from a woman identified as “Jane Doe” describing an encounter with Epstein:

“At that moment, I ran back to the door and figured out how to get out of there. A girl outside asked me where I was going and told me to be careful. She said Mr. Epstein knew many powerful people, including Bill Clinton, and that if I didn’t do what he wanted, I would never find work in this industry. I was so scared I couldn’t wait to get out of there… I had spent all my savings to buy Victoria’s Secret underwear because I thought it was an audition, but instead, it felt like a casting for prostitution. I felt like I was in hell.”

One of the emails released by the Department of Justice mentions a photograph of Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell taken together, found on a mobile phone belonging to Republican political strategist and “MAGA” ideologue Steve Bannon. The photograph itself is blacked out, and it is unclear when it was taken.

Woman alleging rape spoke to police

Among the documents released overnight is a strange FBI report where names are redacted. The report describes a tip the agency received from a limousine driver. The driver claims he heard Trump talking about “Jeffrey” and also spoke with a woman who alleged she had been raped by Trump.

It is unknown whether the FBI investigated this tip or dismissed it as fake, but the person who reported it to the FBI followed the woman, and she told him she had reported the rape to the “police.”

So far, there is nothing in the documents showing that Trump committed any crime, and the files do not indicate that he is under investigation.

In 2007, Epstein made a deal with federal prosecutors in South Florida that allowed him to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges (one involving a minor) and serve 13 months in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Allowed to leave prison regularly, Epstein continued to work in a nearby office and continued to abuse girls.

Epstein’s victims, whose numbers the department estimates at around 1,000 women, have long demanded more accountability for his powerful friends and accomplices, as well as more transparency from the department that kept them in the dark about the 2007 deal that allowed Epstein to escape heavy punishment for sexually abusing girls in South Florida.

Clinton requested the release of all documents

The files the department initially released on Friday did not satisfy the victims or the members of Congress who ordered the release, especially after the Department of Justice removed some files, including a photograph of Trump, after publication. This photograph and several others were later reposted online.

The files released Friday included numerous photographs of former president Bill Clinton. Many of these photographs were taken from a 2002 trip Clinton and Epstein took to Africa on Epstein’s plane.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Clinton asked the Department of Justice to release all files mentioning Clinton’s name, stating that the files released so far suggest “someone or something is being protected.”

Prince Andrew may not have been interrogated despite US requests

According to another document in the latest batch of Epstein files, federal prosecutors—armed with evidence that Prince Andrew had “sexual relations” with one of Epstein’s victims—threatened to force the British royal to speak with investigators under oath.

Department of Justice officials asked British authorities in the spring of 2020 to conduct a “mandatory interview” with the Prince if he refused to answer questions voluntarily as part of the department’s investigation.

Prosecutors also revealed the existence of evidence that Andrew was “present” during “certain” interactions between the victim, Epstein, and Maxwell, and evidence that the prince knew Maxwell “recruited women to engage in sexual relations with Epstein and other men.”

Prosecutors also wrote that they had “evidence that Prince Andrew engaged in sexual relations with one of Epstein’s victims.”

Epstein’s UK flights under scrutiny

The BBC revealed that approximately 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein landed at or took off from UK airports, with some flights carrying British women who claim they were abused by the billionaire.

Following this, the BBC contacted the Metropolitan Police in October to ask if they would launch a comprehensive investigation into potential human trafficking by Epstein and his accomplices within, around, and outside the UK.

A document released by the US Department of Justice includes an email from a senior Metropolitan Police officer asking the FBI attaché in London if there was “still an ongoing investigation” regarding the BBC’s questions about Epstein’s flights to the UK.

In a statement released earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police Service stated that it had “not received any additional evidence that would support the reopening of the investigation” into the human trafficking activities of Epstein and Maxwell in the UK.

“If new and relevant information is brought to our attention, including that obtained from materials released in the US, we will consider it,” the Metropolitan Police Service said.

Amazon was slow to assist in the investigation

Just days before Epstein’s suicide in prison in 2019, the Department of Justice threatened to ask a judge to charge Amazon with contempt of court after the company failed to provide documents related to the investigation into the scandal-plagued financier.

An unidentified investigator wrote in an August 1 email to the company, “Amazon’s response to the attached grand jury subpoena is several weeks late.”

“The FBI has emailed and left messages for your legal department several times in recent weeks but has received no response. Please respond immediately to address Amazon’s non-compliance. Otherwise, we will file a contempt of court motion for failure to comply with valid legal process.”

It is unclear exactly which records the Department of Justice requested from Amazon; the subpoena was not accessible in the latest group of documents. However, it appeared to be related to email correspondence of individuals linked to the Epstein investigation.

A day later, it appeared that Amazon had hastily prepared a response to the subpoena, but the Department of Justice found this response to be highly inadequate.

Summers appointed as an alternate executor in his will

According to another document, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was at one point appointed as a backup executor in Jeffrey Epstein’s will.

In the 2014 version of Epstein’s will, Summers was named as a “successor executor” to manage the convicted sex offender’s estate after his death if any of the other three appointed executors were “not qualified or unable to serve.”

According to the document, each executor was entitled to receive $250,000 upon completion of the will. Epstein died in 2019, and Summers was not named as an executor in the final version of his will.

Fake passport linked to Saudi Arabia

In the most recently released files, Epstein is seen to have an Austrian passport registered under the name “Marius Robert Fortelni.” The New York Post reported that this name belonged to a real estate developer who once lived in New York and later moved to Palm Beach, Florida.

The passport/document lists the individual’s date of birth as July 30, 1954, and place of birth as Vienna. Epstein was born in the US in 1953.

The passport, issued on May 21, 1984, lists the place of residence as Saudi Arabia and the nationality as Austrian.

The Saudi connection is particularly significant because Adnan Khashoggi, who was involved in organizing the Afghan jihad and the Iran-Contra scandal, and Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell, operated in the dark connections of international finance.

Epstein’s lawyers addressed the issue of the fake passport years ago. In a 2019 court filing cited by NBC, the offender’s legal team claimed the document was designed not for routine travel but as a “security measure.”

Arguing that the document was designed to be shown only in extreme cases while traveling in dangerous areas, Epstein’s lawyers wrote, “The passport was for personal protection in case of travel to dangerous areas,” adding that the passport would only be shown to “potential kidnappers, pirates, or terrorists in the event of violent incidents.”

Photographs released by the department show that the passport contained travel stamps from countries such as France, Spain, and the UK between 1982 and 1983. The document also includes a stamp from the Saudi Arabian consulate in Vienna granting a two-month entry permit.

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AI spending heads toward $7 trillion as analysts warn of market bubble risks

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03/08/2026

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Massive financial resources directed into artificial intelligence technologies are driving companies into dangerous territory for global markets.

If expected productivity gains fail to materialize despite these immense capital flows, the artificial intelligence sector faces the risk of inflating into a giant bubble.

The Wall Street Journal reported that should such a scenario unfold, a widespread collapse capable of shaking the entire financial system and dragging down the broader market will become inevitable.

Estimates by McKinsey & Company project that global spending on data center construction alone could reach $7 trillion by 2030.

According to the newspaper, if these massive investments fail to deliver adequate productivity gains, the global economy will suffer a severe blow.

Should the sector as a whole turn out to be a bubble, the resulting damage will spread directly across the broader financial system.

While market observers note that a major crash—whether sooner or later—would drag all equity markets down with it, declines in AI-related stocks are currently being offset by gains in other sectors.

However, the first concrete signs of emerging vulnerability appeared in the memory chip market, where a sector-specific bubble formed and burst within just four months.

South Korean market shaken by sharp drop

In June, shares of South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix, the world’s two largest memory chip makers, sank by more than 12%.

The sharp sell-off pulled down the country’s broader stock index. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index dropped 10%, triggering an automatic 20-minute trading halt.

Growing investor anxiety over artificial intelligence triggered the steep decline in the two giant companies, which together account for half of the total market capitalization of the Kospi index.

US equity markets also felt the ripple effects during the same period. The Nasdaq index closed down 2.2%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.4%, marking their worst single-day performances in two weeks.

Nevertheless, The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the disruption has not yet produced catastrophic consequences for the rest of the market.

While the bursting of massive historical bubbles resulted in disaster for national economies, smaller and localized bubbles in recent years have failed to paralyze broader economic growth.

The primary reason for this resilience is that these recent investments were not predominantly funded through leverage and bank credit.

When those localized bubbles burst, investors suffered wealth losses, but the financial system remained intact.

Russell Napier, a global macroeconomic strategist and keeper of the Library of Mistakes, a financial history archive in Edinburgh, evaluated the current market posture:

“The banking system is in superb condition, which means there will always be enough credit available to blow the next bubble.”

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Anthropic AI models breach corporate systems after escaping isolated test environment

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31/07/2026

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Anthropic has announced that several of its advanced artificial intelligence models escaped an isolated testing environment and accessed the live internet.

In a review published Thursday night, the company stated that in three separate incidents dating back to April, the models independently breached the systems of multiple companies without the AI developer’s knowledge.

Anthropic said the incidents involved an unreleased internal research test model, alongside its Opus 4.7 and Mythos 5 models.

Mythos was made available last month to a limited audience composed of technology companies and cybersecurity researchers, an initiative also known as Project Glasswing.

The AI developer did not disclose which companies were breached, but said the affected firms were informed of the incidents on Monday.

Anthropic noted that it conducted the review after OpenAI revealed last week that two of its most powerful models had breached containment, escaped their testing environment, and infiltrated several entities, including the AI platform Hugging Face and cloud provider Modal Labs.

System misconfiguration allowed internet access

Anthropic stated that it examined more than 140,000 tests to find evidence of whether Claude could gain access to the internet from test environments designed to be isolated.

The evaluations included “capture-the-flag” exercises, in which Claude was instructed to breach other systems to obtain information. This is a method frequently used by experts to assess a model’s hacking capabilities.

The San Francisco-based company stated that a “misconfiguration” in systems operated by Anthropic and its testing partner left the models with live internet access, enabling them to infiltrate external systems.

Anthropic said it approached remediation efforts “with full ownership of the responsibility.”

Neither Anthropic nor the affected organizations detected the unauthorized entries at the time they occurred.

Anthropic added that it may examine its logs more extensively, noting that the findings gave the company “cautious optimism” that such risks can be overcome through increased investment and more stringent safeguards.

David Allott, a cybersecurity expert, told the BBC: “The overarching lesson here is not that AI has developed fundamentally new attack vectors.”

“Instead, it means that AI agents can combine capabilities, acquire credentials and system access to act autonomously, while adapting scope and scale at machine speed,” Allott said.

The developments come as technology companies invest billions of dollars to develop AI agents capable of independently executing a range of tasks, from research and customer support to cybersecurity.

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Elon Musk’s America PAC plans $100 million field operation for 2026 Republican midterm push

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3 days ago

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31/07/2026

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is returning to the political spending arena with a new field program designed to help elect Republicans in at least eight states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Musk has authorized his political action committee, America PAC, to spend between $100 million and $120 million on a new ground game focused on conservative voter turnout for the 2026 midterms, according to a Thursday report by The New York Times, which cited two unnamed sources informed about the plans.

America PAC funneled more than $250 million into Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in 2024, a expenditure that established Musk as the largest political donor in US history.

The New York Times reported that America PAC is reviving its spending initiatives and has reached out to other Republicans in recent weeks regarding the new field operations.

The effort is also being coordinated with other Republican Party spending groups, according to the report.

The newspaper identified targeted Senate races in the states of Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio, while noting that discussions are also underway regarding contests in North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.

The political action committee is additionally expected to deploy funds for House of Representatives elections in Washington, Wisconsin, and California.

The news comes a day after Axios first reported that America PAC’s operations were resuming, with a focus on driving Republican turnout during the non-presidential election cycle.

A spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment on The New York Times report but confirmed the Axios reporting to The Hill. The spokesperson stated that the spending group was “excited” to contribute to efforts to maintain the Republican majorities in Congress this fall.

“The President’s political team and the rest of the GOP apparatus have built a world-class operation that has Republicans well-positioned to make history and retain control of Congress this fall,” America PAC spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement. “We’re excited to be part of the team again.”

The campaign will reportedly target Republican voters through door-to-door canvassing, mailers, and digital advertisements, enabling other groups to concentrate their resources on television advertising.

The developments were reported days after Musk told The Economist magazine that he had gotten “carried away” during his brief foray into politics.

The SpaceX CEO entered the political arena during the 2024 election, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump’s presidential campaign and accompanying the candidate on the campaign trail.

Musk went on to lead Trump’s cost-cutting initiative, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which executed sweeping employment and funding reductions across the federal government. Those efforts sparked controversy for Musk and his enterprise empire, including Tesla, whose shares fell sharply during his period of political involvement.

Musk departed the White House in late May 2025, and DOGE officially terminated its operations on July 4.

Shortly after leaving government, Musk and Trump engaged in a public dispute over the president’s sweeping spending legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” During the friction, Musk threatened to form a third party, though the initiative never materialized.

Musk and the US President appeared to resolve their differences last year, with the tech billionaire most recently joining Trump alongside other technology leaders on a trip to China in May.

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