DOJ and FBI Shut Down Investigations and Withheld Evidence While Claiming No Basis to Prosecute or Even Investigate Any Additional Epstein Co-Conspirators

In Two-Day Interview, Attorney General Todd Blanche Instructed Maxwell Not to Discuss a Specific Survivor Whose Account Implicated Trump

Five Women Accuse Trump of Rape or Sexual Assault in Epstein’s Company or Presence; Others Describe Apparent Attempts by Epstein or Maxwell to Traffic Them to Trump

Committee Interviews, Survivor Accounts and FBI Records Trace Criminal Ties Among Trump, Epstein, Former Trump Envoy Paolo Zampolli and Known Pedophile John Casablancas in the Murky World of Beauty Pageants in 1990s New York

Judiciary Democrats Call for Independent Special Counsel to Investigate Epstein’s Co-Conspirators, Full Cooperation With State and Foreign Prosecutors Requesting Evidence, and Congressional Action to End DOJ’s Cover-Up

October 27, 2026 - Washington, D.C. - On Monday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a sweeping new Committee staff report, “‘We Have Certain Things in Common, Jeffrey’: The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging in the Epstein Files and DOJ’s Desperate Efforts to Cover it Up,” detailing evidence involving 11 women, five of whom directly accuse Donald Trump of rape or sexual assault in Jeffrey Epstein’s close company or presence. The report concludes that, based on the available evidence and witness testimony, Trump and Paolo Zampolli—who until recently served as a senior Trump Administration official and diplomat—may have been co-conspirators in Jeffrey Epstein’s conspiracy to traffic and abuse young women in the 1990s.

Drawing on interviews conducted by Committee staff, survivor accounts, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records and documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the report traces striking similarities in the stories of women abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. With one exception, each assault or instance of sexual misconduct occurred between 1992 and 1997, in New York and Palm Beach, and many of the victims were closely tied to the modeling industry and Zampolli.

“Donald Trump says he knew Jeffrey Epstein ‘just like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.’ Not exactly. Evidence involving 11 women tells a completely different and far more damning story about their relationship and the abuse of young women and girls that took place in their network. Five women have directly accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in Epstein’s company or presence; others have indicated that Epstein or Maxwell attempted to traffic them to Trump. These women have spoken to investigators and, in some cases, testified under oath, yet Trump’s Justice Department has shut down investigations, deliberately withheld evidence and, through Todd Blanche, prevented Ghislaine Maxwell from discussing a survivor whose account implicated Trump—all while insisting there is no basis upon which to investigate Epstein’s possible accomplices. Trump’s Justice Department appears to be covering up these crimes to protect the President. The women who survived Epstein deserve to be heard, Congress must have the complete files required by law, and an independent special counsel must investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators and DOJ’s cover-up and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors have the evidence they need to pursue justice,” said Ranking Member Raskin.

Key findings and survivor accounts include:

• Trump and Epstein Shared a World Built Around Young Models. In the 1990s, both men moved through New York modeling agencies, pageants and parties where young women and girls were recruited and often exploited. Trump hosted Elite Model Management competitions for teenage models and had close ties to Elite founder and known pedophile John Casablancas and modeling agent Paolo Zampolli. FBI records describe multiple young models who had a sexual relationship with Zampolli or were connected to Zampolli’s agency who subsequently were sexually assaulted by Epstein.
  • A former longtime Epstein assistant told the FBI that Epstein introduced Melania to Donald Trump, contradicting Zampolli’s account.
• Women Describe Sexual Assault and Other Troubling Encounters Involving Trump and Epstein. Five women have directly accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in Epstein’s company or presence. Three others describe encounters in which Epstein or Maxwell appeared to offer women to Trump or indicate that Trump was “in” on Epstein’s abuse. Their accounts and stories, when told together, paint an unmistakable picture of a conspiracy to abuse and traffic women.
  • Beatrice Keul told Committee staff that Trump raped her in a Plaza Hotel suite during his November 1993 American Dream Pageant. Keul said Trump promised that Zampolli would arrange her visa while Trump would arrange for admission to New York University; Epstein then approached her, introduced himself as “Don’s best friend” and offered to cover her travel and accommodations for a party at Mar-a-Lago. Following her brutal rape that same day, Keul said Trump pressed her to keep quiet and later called her in Switzerland to renew his offers for a visa and admission to NYU – similar offers Epstein made to his victims. While Keul had previously discussed Trump’s conduct, the report presents more information about the assault than previously offered, as well as corroborating evidence from others present at the pageant.
  • Stacey Williams said Trump groped her in his Trump Tower office while Epstein stood beside them. Williams said the men smiled and continued talking during the assault; Epstein then berated her for allowing Trump to touch her.
  • Jill Harth alleged in a 1997 lawsuit that Trump forcibly kissed and fondled her at Mar-a-Lago during a gathering at which she and her former spouse said Epstein was the only other male present. Harth also alleged that Trump assaulted another young model that night.
  • “Jane,” who later testified against Maxwell, told the FBI that Epstein introduced her to Trump at Mar-a-Lago when she was 14, saying, “This is a good one, huh.” Trump responded, “Yes.” During Ghislaine Maxwell’s July 2025 prison interview, then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who appeared to have been briefed on Jane’s claims, prevented Maxwell from discussing Jane at least three times, at one point saying, “Let’s not talk about individuals.” With Maxwell scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee less than two weeks later, Blanche’s efforts to prevent discussion of Jane’s account potentially constituted witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding.
  • “Katie Johnson” alleged to the FBI that Trump and Epstein repeatedly raped her at Epstein’s New York residence in 1994, when she was 13. She said the men argued over who would take her virginity. Whistleblower information obtained by the Committee indicates that documents linked to a case number involving Katie Johnson have been withheld from Congress and the public.
  • Maria Farmer said Trump approached her in a sexual and threatening manner in Epstein’s New York office before Epstein intervened, saying, “She’s not here for you.” Farmer said Trump then remarked that he had thought she was 16. Farmer reported Epstein’s abuse to the FBI and raised concerns about Trump, yet her reports of Trump’s misconduct are absent from the Epstein files.
  • “Kate,” who was abused by Epstein and Maxwell and was a witness at Maxwell’s trial, told the FBI that Maxwell “presented” her to Trump at a New York party in the same way “Maxwell introduced [Kate] to Epstein.” Maxwell was also famous for “introduc[ing] several of her attractive friends” to Trump around this time. Kate was later flown to Mar-a-Lago along with Ghislaine Maxwell and was put up at a Trump property.
  • Another woman alleged that Trump assaulted her when she was 13 in the 1980s. She told the FBI that Trump struck her after she resisted him during the alleged assault. The Committee has not independently verified her allegation against Trump. FBI agents’ handwritten interview notes reportedly contain further details and potential witnesses collected across multiple interviews, but DOJ has not released them to the public.
  • Records concerning three other young women add to the picture of Trump and Epstein’s shared orbit. Jill Harth alleged that Trump assaulted young model Lauren Petrella at the Mar-a-Lago gathering where Harth says she, too, was assaulted. Epstein’s birthday book explicitly refers to another young woman as someone he had “sold” to Trump; records illuminate that this woman was a young foreign college student who had a sexual relationship with both men. A third model lived in a Trump property and later flew on Epstein’s jet with Maxwell and Prince Andrew. These women have not come forward as survivors. 
• Trump’s Repeated Denials Contradict the Record. Trump has minimized his friendship with Epstein, denied knowing about his crimes and made specific claims about their relationship that conflict with documents and witness accounts. Some of the information impeaching Trump’s self-serving account is hidden behind redactions in the Epstein files. For example:
  • “I kicked him out.” Trump and the White House have said he expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. But a 2009 account of a conversation involving Trump, his lawyers and an attorney for Epstein survivors records Trump saying Epstein “was never asked to leave.” The account remains redacted in DOJ’s public files; Members of Congress reviewed the unredacted passage.
  • “I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.” Trump described Epstein in 2002 as a “terrific guy” he had known for 15 years and remarked that Epstein liked women “on the younger side.” Epstein later described himself as Trump’s “closest friend for 10 years.” The men socialized, attended events together and remained in each other’s orbit through much of the 1990s.
  • “I had no idea.” Trump denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes. The former Palm Beach police chief told the FBI that Trump called him in 2006 and said of Epstein, “everyone has known he’s been doing this.” An email Epstein sent in 2019 likewise claimed Trump “knew about the girls.”
  • “I was never on Epstein’s plane.” Trump’s 2024 denial conflicts with flight records showing that he traveled on Epstein’s jet at least eight times in the 1990s, according to the report and a prosecutor’s review of the logs.

This evidence demands a complete and independent investigation. Judiciary Democrats call for the appointment of an independent special counsel to investigate and prosecute Epstein’s co-conspirators and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors receive DOJ and FBI’s full support, including access to all relevant evidence.

DOJ’s conflict of interest and obstruction make clear that Trump’s appointees cannot be trusted to pursue accountability. Congress must use its legislative and oversight powers to end the cover-up and ensure that those responsible for these crimes face justice.

Click here to read the report.

Source: U.S. House Committee On The Judiciary Democrats