4 takeaways from the Epstein files about the FBI’s investigation into possible sex trafficking

NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI collected ample evidence that Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused underage girls, but found little evidence that the well-connected financier led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men, an Associated Press review of internal Justice Department records shows.

The prosecutor wrote in one of his 2025 memos that videos and photos seized from Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida and the Virgin Islands did not depict victims being abused or implicate anyone else in his crimes.

Read more: A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the fight to make government files public

Another internal memo in 2019 said that an examination of Epstein’s financial records, including payments he made to entities linked to influential figures in global academia, finance and diplomacy, found no connection to criminal activity.

Summing up the investigation in an email last July, agents said that “four or five” of Epstein’s accusers alleged that other men or women had sexually assaulted them. But agents said there was “insufficient evidence to bring federal charges against these individuals.”

The Associated Press and other media organizations are still reviewing millions of pages of documents, many previously classified, that the Justice Department released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and those records likely contain evidence that investigators overlooked.

Here are some takeaways from what the documents show about the FBI investigation and why US authorities ultimately decided to close it without filing additional charges.

Principles of investigation

The investigation into Epstein began in 2005, when the parents of a 14-year-old girl reported she had been molested at the millionaire’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. The then-U.S. Attorney in Miami, Alexander Acosta, struck a deal allowing Epstein to plead guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and was free by mid-2009.

In 2018, a series of Miami Herald stories about the plea deal prompted federal prosecutors to take a fresh look at the charges.

Read more: A list of powerful men named in the Epstein files, from Elon Musk to former Prince Andrew

Epstein was arrested in July 2019. One month later, he committed suicide in his prison cell.

A year later, prosecutors charged Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidant, saying she recruited many of his victims and sometimes joined in the sexual abuse. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Lack of evidence of the conspirators

Prosecution memos, case summaries and other documents made public in the department’s latest release of records related to Epstein show that FBI agents and federal prosecutors are diligently pursuing potential co-conspirators. Even the seemingly strange and incomprehensible claims, which were called into information lines, were examined.

Some of the allegations could not be verified, investigators wrote.

In 2011 and again in 2019, investigators interviewed Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused Epstein in lawsuits and news interviews of arranging sexual encounters with several men, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew.

He watches: What was revealed in the latest release of the Epstein files – and what was redacted

Investigators said they confirmed that Giuffre was sexually assaulted by Epstein. But other parts of her story were problematic.

Giuffre admitted to writing a partly fictional memoir about her time with Epstein that contained descriptions of things that did not happen. She also offered changing accounts in interviews with investigators, they wrote.

Two other of Epstein’s victims, who Giuffre claimed were also “lent out” to powerful men, told investigators they had no such experience, prosecutors wrote in a 2019 internal memo.

Photos and videos do not implicate others

Investigators seized a large number of videos and photos from Epstein’s electronic devices and his homes in New York, Florida and the US Virgin Islands. They found CDs, printed photos and at least one videotape containing nude images of females.

None of the videos or photos showed Epstein’s victims being sexually assaulted, none showed any males with any of the nude females, and none contained evidence implicating anyone other than Epstein and Maxwell, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Comey wrote in an email to FBI officials last year.

He watches: Deputy District Attorney Blanche announces Epstein’s latest release of more than 3 million pages

If it had existed, Comey wrote, the government would have “followed up on any leads it generated.” “However, we did not find any such videos.”

Investigators who searched Epstein’s bank records found payments to more than 25 women who appeared to be models, but no evidence that he was involved in prostitution with other men, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors considered bringing charges against some of Epstein’s close associates, including his associate and business clients, but ultimately decided against it due to a lack of evidence.

Customer list not found

Prosecutor Pam Bondi told Fox News in February 2025 that Epstein’s never-before-seen “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now.” But FBI agents wrote to their superiors saying that the list of agents did not exist.

On December 30, 2024, about three weeks before President Joe Biden left office, then-FBI Deputy Director Paul Abate reached out through his subordinates to ask “whether our investigation to date indicates that the agent list, often referred to in the media, does or does not exist,” according to an email summarizing his inquiry.

A day later, an FBI official responded that the case agent confirmed that there was no list of agents.

On February 19, 2025, two days before Bundy appeared on Fox News, an FBI supervisory special agent wrote: “While media coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein case refers to an ‘agent list,’ investigators found no such list during the course of the investigation.”

Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.

The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from CBS, NBC, MS NOW and CNBC. Journalists from each newsroom work together to examine the files and share information about their contents. Each media outlet is responsible for its independent news coverage of the documents.