Democrats on Wednesday (February 25, 2026) accused U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration of the “largest government cover-up in modern history” over reports that it withheld documents relating to allegations that the Republican leader sexually abused a minor.

The Justice Department said it is reviewing its Epstein files to see if any were handled “improperly” but denied any wrongdoing.

The department has released millions of pages from files connected to notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein under a transparency law enacted last year. But public broadcaster NPR found gaps in the files tied to one woman’s 2019 assault complaint against Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the DOJ’s so-called “Epstein Files” release exonerated him.

Indexes and serial numbers attached to the investigative materials into Epstein’s trafficking ring indicate that FBI agents conducted four interviews with the accuser and generated summaries and accompanying notes, NPR reported.

Only one summary — focused largely on her allegations against Epstein — appears in the public database.

The remaining three summaries and related notes, totaling more than 50 pages, are not available on the Justice Department’s website, according to NPR‘s review of the document numbering. The New York Times and cable network MS NOW reported similar findings.

“This is largest government cover-up in modern history. We are demanding answers,” the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said in statement posted to social media.

‘Improperly tagged’

In a statement Wednesday (February 25, 2026) evening, the Justice Department said some media outlets have alleged that files related to Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell are also missing from records released to the public.

“As with all documents that have been flagged by the public, the Department is currently reviewing files within that category of the production,” it said on X.

“Should any document be found to have been improperly tagged in the review process and is responsive to the Act, the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law,” it said, alluding to the bipartisan bill passed last year that ordered the Trump adminstration to release all its Epstein files.

The woman at the heart of this episode of the Epstein drama first contacted authorities in July 2019, shortly after Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.

Later internal references in the released files describe her as alleging that the disgraced financier introduced her to Mr. Trump and that Mr. Trump assaulted her in the mid-1980s, when she was 13 to 15 years old.

A 2025 FBI document in the public database recounts that claim but does not include an assessment of its credibility. The detailed memos from the follow-up interviews — conducted in August and October 2019, according to the indexes — are not included.

Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said he reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Justice Department and reached the same conclusion.

“Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor,” Ms. Garcia said, adding that Democrats would open a parallel investigation and demand the missing records be provided to Congress.

The Justice Department argues that any material not posted falls within categories allowed under the law, including duplicates, privileged records or documents tied to an ongoing federal investigation.

Asked for comment, the Justice Department earlier Wednesday (February 25, 2026) referred AFP to a social media response in which it denied deleting files and said documents temporarily removed for victim-related redactions or to remove personally identifiable information will be restored.

Democrats argue that the missing interview records do not fit the categories cited by the department.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released on Monday (September 8, 2025) a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein purportedly signed by President Donald Trump, which he has denied.

Mr. Trump has said he did not write the letter or create the drawing of a curvaceous woman that surrounds the letter. He filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for a report on the alleged letter.

The letter was included as part of a 2003 album compiled for alleged sex trafficker Epstein’s birthday. The President has denied having anything to do with it. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee received a copy of the birthday album on Monday (September 8, 2025) as part of a batch of documents from Epstein’s estate.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

After the letter was released, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted pictures on X of Mr. Trump’s signature and tagged The Wall Street Journal’s parent corporation, News Corp., writing: “Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!”

Mr. Trump has denied writing the letter and creating the drawing, calling a report on it “false, malicious, and defamatory”. “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Mr. Trump said.

The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described by the The Wall Street Journal in its report.

The letter bearing Mr. Trump’s name and signature includes text framed by a hand-drawn outline of what appears to be a curvaceous woman. “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the letter says.

The letter’s disclosure comes amid a bipartisan push in Congress for the release of the so-called Epstein files amid years of speculation and conspiracy theories. Calls for the release of the records came from Republicans, including Vice-President J.D. Vance before he was sworn into the country’s No. 2 position.

Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier, killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.

The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.

Mr. Trump’s ties to Epstein have been well-documented, though he said they had a falling-out two decades ago. He has said he kicked the financier out of his private club in Florida after Epstein betrayed him more than once by hiring people who had worked for him.

The President has not been accused of misconduct in connection with their social relationship.

The Justice Department in August began turning over records from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House Oversight Committee.

The committee subpoenaed the Epstein estate for documents last month. In addition to the birthday book, lawmakers requested Epstein’s last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.