For more than six months, Donald Trump and his justice department have insisted they would get to the bottom of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, but nine attorneys – who have represented approximately 50 Epstein survivors – told the Guardian they have not been recently contacted by the justice department.
The revelation casts doubt on the effort by the Trump administration to fully investigate Epstein’s crimes and activities and reveal everything that the government knows about him. It comes as Trump faces intense political pressure, including from his own base, over his social ties to Epstein, who was famed for courting rich and powerful figures into his circle.
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“There has still been no outreach from the DoJ or members of Congress to me seeking to interview my clients,” said the top civil attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented 27 Epstein survivors.
Lisa Bloom, who has represented 11 Epstein survivors, said: “No, haven’t heard anything. As usual the survivors are being ignored in the political battle.”
Spencer Kuvin, the chief legal officer of Goldlaw, similarly said there had not been outreach by law enforcement officials or Congress. The House oversight committee has issued subpoenas regarding Epstein and met with some victims earlier this week; the panel did release a tranche of documents the justice department provided pursuant to a subpoena, but virtually none contained new information.
“I have heard nothing from the DoJ and they have provided me no updates to give to my clients. I have even sent a letter to the committee chair volunteering to speak with them about the original investigation and litigation. This letter was completely ignored,” Kuvin said. “It is appalling that the federal government is again failing to keep the victims at the center of this investigation. Instead, it appears that all the government is interested in is attempting to whitewash the prior investigation.”
Jennifer Freeman, special counsel at Marsh Law Firm, who represents the Epstein survivor Maria Farmer in her suit against the federal government, condemned this apparent lack of outreach, noting the lengthy talk between the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
“It is atrocious that the DoJ ignored or dismissed the survivors of Epstein and Maxwell for decades – and that recently, the second in command spent two days coddling known sex abuser Ghislane Maxwell and asking her soft, powder-puff questions instead of conducting a true and proper investigation,” Freeman said.
“Not only has the DoJ refused to engage survivors, but they obstructed routine and valid requests for information. In January 2025, in response to a basic Foia [Freedom of Information Act] request, the government informed us that they would respond by November 2027 – nearly three years later. That’s abysmal and completely unacceptable.”
Attorney Jack Scarola said: “My last contact with the DoJ was during the Maxwell trial while I was representing Carolyn Andriano in her capacity as a principal DoJ witness.” Andriano died of a drug overdose in May 2023.
Another attorney simply said: “Not a word from the DoJ.”
The lack of outreach flies in the face of numerous public commitments by Trump and others in his administration to fully and transparently investigate Epstein.
“This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump’s commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,” the US attorney general, Pamela Bondi, said in February as it released some Epstein documents. “The first phase of files released today sheds light on Epstein’s extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.”
As it turned out, this February dissemination of files set the stage for a controversy that continues to roil Trump’s presidency; these Epstein documents largely contained information that had already been in the public domain.
The disclosure also did not include a purported Epstein client list that has long proved the white whale of rightwing conspiracy theorists who believe it would show that Epstein plotted with high-profile individuals to traffic teen girls.
In July, Bondi announced that her department, and the FBI, would not be releasing more files and claimed that a client list did not exist, stoking still more uproar. Then came the reporting that Bondi informed Trump that his name had appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, dealing yet another political blow to the US president.
Justice’s apparent damage control efforts were extensive. They requested the release of grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s criminal cases, as well as Maxwell’s proceeding. Legal experts said that grand jury transcripts would contain little revelatory information; the requests were ultimately denied.
Blanche, interviewed Maxwell who had helped Epstein commit his crimes, in late July. Maxwell was then moved to a low-security prison camp shortly thereafter, infuriating victims. The justice department released transcripts of the Maxwell interview on 22 August but the minutes refused to quell demand for information, as Blanche’s questions didn’t seem probing on key issues, especially as it related to Trump or those close to him.
But still there was a lack of outreach to victims that appears to stand in contrast with traditional investigatory methods. Attorneys said that engaging with survivors was integral to criminal investigations of sexual offenders and those who commit other serious crimes.
“If law enforcement was seriously investigating some criminal activity, it seems like the first call that they should make is to the victims and or the victims’ attorneys,” said Eric Faddis, a trial attorney and founder of the Denver firm Varner Faddis, who previously worked as a prosecutor.
“You’re getting information from the source, from someone who was present and has firsthand knowledge, and probably has a wealth of information, most of which is likely not public, and some of which may have not been disclosed to anyone at all yet.”
Speaking with survivors, rather than limiting inquiries to an accomplice or accomplices, helps better fact-finding, he said.
“An accomplice can talk about statements that the alleged culprit made to which a victim may not have been privy. But I think the reciprocal is true, that a victim can talk about firsthand knowledge, whereas sometimes when an accomplice relays information, that information can be colored or biased or conveyed with impure motivations, like to help out the accomplice themselves,” Faddis said.
“The victims, they likely don’t have any incentive to fabricate information to their benefit, at least not in the way that an accomplice who’s sitting in a prison cell does.”
Lindsay M Goldbrum, a partner at the New York City firm Goddard Law, said that a survivor-centered approach was key.
“As an attorney for survivors in other high-profile cases, proactive, trauma-informed outreach from law enforcement is critical. When survivors and their counsel aren’t contacted, it can chill participation and undermine confidence in the process,” Goldbrum said. “I can’t speak to the specifics of the Epstein/Maxwell investigations, but as a matter of practice, engagement matters.”
The justice department said “no comment” in an email when asked about victim outreach.
Epstein survivors have continued to push for transparency and justice outside the justice department. Several survivors on Wednesday voiced support of a bipartisan resolution to release all Epstein files.
Survivors have also taken legal action against the US government for federal law enforcement agencies’ failure to take action against Epstein 20 years ago.
Jennifer Plotkin and Jordan Merson of Merson Law, which represents 33 survivors, are pursuing a civil suit over federal law enforcement authorities’ inaction toward allegations against Epstein when survivors started coming forward 20 years ago. Trump’s Department of Justice has pushed to dismiss the lawsuit.
“The FBI refuses to accept accountability and continues to fight the dozens of Epstein victims that we represent. Why is the FBI fighting these women when it acknowledged responsibility to the Larry Nassar victims?” Plotkin said. “The government says it wants to move on and forward yet it continues to be adversarial instead of sympathetic.”
