ieExplains: What have we learned from the newly released Epstein files?

Latest documents indicate high-profile figures continued friendships with financier after child sex abuse convictions

Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The US justice department has released millions of files related to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the largest disclosure by the government since a law passed last year said the documents should be published.

The disgraced financier was convicted of child sex offences in 2008 and the files indicate that many high-profile figures.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on new child abuse charges. His accomplice, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence in the US for child sex trafficking.

Here is what we learned from the latest Epstein files release.

The FBI received allegations about Donald Trump’s links to Epstein 

The new documents contain a list, compiled by the FBI, of allegations made against Trump through its National Threat Operations Center hotline. Many appear to be unsubstantiated claims of sexual abuse relating to Trump, Epstein and other public figures.

Although the US president is mentioned hundreds of times in the files, he has always denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse. He has admitted having a friendship with Epstein but the pair appear to have fallen out at some point in the mid-noughties, before Epstein was jailed.

Elon Musk attends the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The US justice department said: “Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already.” 

Elon Musk asked Epstein about parties on his island 

The tech billionaire Elon Musk appears to have discussed travelling to Epstein’s island in November 2012, the files show. He seemingly sent the financier an email in which he asked: “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” 

Musk and Epstein continued to discuss the possibility of Musk visiting his island in late 2013.

Musk has not been accused of wrongdoing and it is unclear if he ultimately made the trip. He has not addressed the revelations in detail but said on X that it was false to suggest he planned to visit Epstein on another occasion, in 2014.

Former prince Andrew invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace after release from house arrest 

Released emails appear to show that Mountbatten-Windsor invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace after Epstein’s house arrest ended.

A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, shows the report when Epstein was taken into custody on July 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

In 2019, the former prince gave a disastrous interview to the Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in which he tried to claim he had distanced himself from Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for abusing a 14-year-old girl in Florida. However, the files suggest the pair remained close.

In September 2010, emails between Epstein and “The Duke” – believed to be Mountbatten-Windsor as the then Duke of York – show Epstein requested “private time” on a planned visit to London.

Mountbatten-Windsor appears to have responded: “We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.” 

Two days later, he followed up by saying: “Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I’ll be here free from 1600ish.” 

It is unclear if the meeting took place, but three months later Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor were pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park. Mountbatten-Windsor previously claimed he had travelled to the US to end his friendship with Epstein in person in light of his conviction.

The documents also suggest that the previous month Epstein had offered to arrange for Mountbatten-Windsor to have dinner with a “clever, beautiful and trustworthy” Russian woman who was 26. Mountbatten-Windsor apparently responded that he would be “delighted” to see the woman. He asked Epstein if it was “good to be free” from house arrest.

Several photos in the just-released files show Andrew appearing to be crouching over an unidentified woman who is lying on the floor.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouched over an unidentified woman which has been released in the latest disclosure of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein. Issue date: Saturday January 31, 2026.

Sarah Ferguson described Epstein as the ‘brother’ she always wanted 

Mountbatten-Windsor’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, thanked Epstein for being the “brother” she “always wished for” in an email sent a year after his child sex abuse conviction.

In the August 2009 exchange, Ferguson appears to suggest she and her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, met the disgraced financier, saying: “I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls.” 

Epstein was under house arrest when the email was sent, but Ferguson implies that the pair had lunch the previous week. It has not been confirmed if she visited him while he was confined to his home.

In the emails, Ferguson also discusses conversations she has had with retailers regarding her “Sarah Ferguson brand”.

Epstein gave Ferguson at least £15,000 to help pay off debts, but some reports have suggested he bankrolled her to a much greater extent. In 2011, Ferguson said her relationship with Epstein had been a “gigantic error of judgment”, but she later emailed him privately to apologise.

Epstein sent money to Peter Mandelson’s husband

Epstein sent £10,000 to Lord Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, in the year after his conviction. The emails suggest this was to fund an osteopathy course.

In another set of emails, Mandelson asks to stay at one of Epstein’s properties while he is serving his jail term. The terms of Epstein’s sentence allowed him to work from his office during the day and return to jail each night.

Mandelson told the Guardian on Friday that he had been “wrong” to continue his association with Epstein after his conviction, but said he was “never culpable or complicit” in his crimes.

Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US last September when it emerged he had sent supportive messages to Epstein after he was convicted.

Head of the LA Olympics committee emailed Maxwell about massages and leather outfits 

Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organising committee, sent emails to Ghislaine Maxwell. Among the exchanges was one from Wasserman telling Maxwell: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” 

In an April 2003 email to Wasserman, who was married at the time, Maxwell offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild”. There is also an email exchange about massages and one in which Maxwell asks whether it will be foggy enough during an upcoming visit “so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?” 

Wasserman responds: “or something like that.” In a statement released on Saturday, Wasserman said: “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” which he said occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light”.

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch mentioned hundreds of times 

The New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was mentioned more than 400 times in files released on Friday. According to emails, Epstein connected Tisch to numerous women. Tisch, 76, was never charged with any crime connected to the investigation.

“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said in a statement provided by the NFL team. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.” 

Epstein lawyers discussed possibility of cooperation with prosecutors days before his death 

Less than two weeks before Epstein’s death in jail, his lawyers and Manhattan federal prosecutors met and discussed his potential cooperation, several documents within the newly released files state.

“On July 29, 2019, FBI and [prosecutors] met with Epstein’s attorneys, who, in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant’s cooperation,” an FBI document titled “ Epstein Investigation Summary & Timeline” stated. Another document titled “Jeffrey Epstein Significant Case Notification”, which was not attributed to a specific agency, closely resembled this FBI memo and provided several more details.