Chats with Trump aides, Melania’s email to Ghislaine: 5 big revelations in new Epstein files

This comes as by Friday evening, over 600,000 files had been made public, though millions more identified as potentially releasable remain sealed.

Newly released Justice Department records offer fresh details on Jeffrey Epstein’s contacts with political aides linked to Donald Trump, outreach to business leaders, including Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick. It also includes an apparent 2002 email from Melania Trump to Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche takes a question from a reporter during a news conference after the Justice Department announced the release of three million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure in Washington, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP)

This comes as by Friday evening, over 6,00,000 files had been made public, though millions more identified as potentially releasable remain sealed, prompting criticism from Democrats who say the disclosure is incomplete, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Among the most striking revelations are previously unseen communications involving Trump aides.

Here are 5 big finds:

1. One set of records details exchanges from 2018 between Epstein and individuals described as Trump aides, including discussions touching on Trump’s public threats at the time to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom he had appointed just a year earlier, according to an AP report.
2. Emails from 2012 and 2013 show Epstein corresponding with Elon Musk about visiting his private island, a location later linked to multiple allegations of sexual abuse. In one exchange, Epstein asked how many people Musk would want flown in by helicopter, to which Musk replied it would likely be just himself and his partner at the time, adding a reference to “the wildest party” on the island. It remains unclear whether any visit occurred. Musk has since said he refused Epstein’s invitations, posting on X in 2025 that he had turned them down, the AP report added.
3. Epstein also extended an island invitation to then-financier and now commerce secretary Howard Lutnick in December 2012, according to the documents. Emails indicate Lutnick’s wife responded enthusiastically, suggesting they would arrive by yacht with their children. Schedules included in the files also note drinks between Epstein and the couple in 2011, as well as later correspondence about construction near their homes. Lutnick has publicly distanced himself from Epstein, describing him as “gross” and saying he cut ties years earlier.
4. Another disclosure involves figures in Trump’s broader political orbit. Kevin Warsh, whom Trump nominated on Friday as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, appeared in a 2002 email sent to Epstein by a publicist listing dozens of people expected at a Christmas gathering, including celebrities such as Martha Stewart. The records do not clarify whether Warsh had any relationship with Epstein or why the message was shared with him, and Warsh did not immediately comment, according to a Reuters report.
5. The files also include what appears to be a 2002 email from Melania Trump to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, referencing a New York Magazine article about Epstein. “Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great in the picture,” the message reads, adding, “Give me a call when you are back in NY.” Another redacted message from 2012 asks whether Epstein might visit Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club after Christmas instead of his island, despite Trump’s later claims that the two men had stopped socialising years earlier, the report added.

These discuss salacious allegations involving Trump and Epstein, but note that no claims had been substantiated and that several accusers were considered not credible. The Justice Department said some documents contain untrue and sensationalist allegations against Trump.