A complete timeline of what we know about the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse saga
Interest in the Epstein case and its key players has exploded once again. (AP: John Minchillo)
The Trump administration has renewed interest in the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than 20 years after it began.
Conspiracy theories around the disgraced financier, who networked with celebrities and politicians alike, first began as early as 2005.
But interest has exploded in recent months even as US President Donald Trump has urged the public to move on from what he deems a "pretty boring" saga.
Here's a timeline of some of the key events leading up to the latest developments.
To quickly navigate to a specific event, use the links below:
- FBI begins its investigation
- Epstein enters a secret plea deal
- Epstein arrested on sex trafficking charges
- Epstein found dead
- Ghislaine Maxwell convicted
- Settlement in case linking Epstein to Prince Andrew
- Judge unseals Epstein documents
- Trump suggests declassifying Epstein files
- Attorney-general says "client list" is on her desk
- Trump administration pushes to unseal grand jury transcripts
- Trump says Epstein "stole" girls from Mar-a-Lago
- Justice Department agrees to give files to Congress
- Justice officials release Maxwell interviews
- US House Committee releases 33,000 pages on Epstein
2005
March 2005: Florida police investigate Epstein
Palm Beach police begin investigating Jeffrey Epstein after the family of a 14-year-old girl reports she has been molested at his mansion.
A search of his property finds photos of girls throughout the house.
Multiple underage girls, many of them high school students, would later tell police that Epstein hired them to give sexual massages.
2006
May 2006: Investigation sent to a grand jury
Florida officials sign paperwork to charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor.
Before the charges can proceed, the county's top prosecutor, state attorney Barry Krischer, sends the case to a grand jury.
In the US, a grand jury is a group of people who decide whether the prosecutor's evidence provides probable cause to issue a formal charge.
The Palm Beach house Jeffrey Epstein owned. (Reuters: Joe Skipper)
July 2006: Epstein indicted on soliciting prostitution
That grand jury indicts Epstein on a single count of soliciting prostitution and he is arrested.
The minor charge leads to accusations of special treatment or bribery — claims that are later dismissed by Florida detectives.
The FBI also starts its investigation at this time.
Jeffrey Epstein was indicted on a single count of soliciting prostitution in 2006. (Supplied: US Justice Department)
2008
June 2008: Epstein enters a federal plea deal
Epstein pleads guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under 18.
He is sentenced to 18 months in jail.
At this time, a controversial plea deal is made, meaning Epstein avoids federal charges that could have seen him face life in prison.
His sentence allows him to continue to work and he is released on probation after 13 months.
2009-2018
After his release from jail, Epstein spends almost a decade facing allegations from multiple women who say they are his victims.
One of these cases was that of Teala Davies, who alleged she was 17 when Jeffrey Epstein abused her. (Reuters: Lucas Jackson)
2019
July 2019: Epstein is arrested on sex trafficking charges
Epstein is arrested in New York on sex trafficking charges involving allegations that date back to the early 2000s.
He is accused of paying underage girls for massages and molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York.
Epstein pleads not guilty to the charges against him but is denied bail.
The charges are laid after renewed interest in the secret plea deal overseen by the labour secretary for the Trump administration at the time, Alexander Acosta.
Following Epstein's New York arrest, Mr Acosta resigns from Mr Trump's administration.
August 2019: Epstein found dead
Epstein is found dead inside his New York cell.
Investigators say he killed himself.
The FBI released surveillance footage showing the area near where Jeffrey Epstein was housed. (Supplied: US Department of Justice)
2020
July 2020: Ghislaine Maxwell charged
New York prosecutors charge Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein's longtime associate and girlfriend — with scouting girls for Epstein's abuse.
Previous lawsuits have accused Maxwell of being the "highest-ranking employee" in Epstein's trafficking ring, but this is the first time she has faced charges.
2021
December 2021: Jury convicts Ghislaine Maxwell
After a month-long trial, Maxwell is convicted of sex trafficking, conspiracy and transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity.
She is found guilty of five out of six counts.
"I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it and demonstrates that no-one is above the law," victim Annie Farmer said after the verdict.
A court sketch of Ghislaine Maxwell during her 2021 trial. (AP)
2022
February 2022: Prince Andrew reaches settlement
A civil settlement is finalised between Prince Andrew and a woman who alleged she was trafficked by Epstein to the royal as a teenager.
Virginia Giuffre had alleged she was trafficked for sex by Epstein to the Duke of York.
The duke repeatedly denied those allegations.
June 2022: Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced
Maxwell, at age 60, is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
2024
January 2024: Judge unseals Epstein documents
Previously secret court documents in Epstein's case are unsealed by a US judge.
The 40-page release mostly consists of material that is already public, though there are mentions of Epstein's friendship with former US president Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
The documents relate to Ms Giuffre's 2015 lawsuit against Epstein, which was settled in 2017.
June 2024: Trump suggests he'd declassify files
During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump tells Fox News he will consider declassifying the Epstein files, quickly making a caveat that there might be a lot of "phoney stuff" in the files.
2025
February 2025: Pam Bondi says client list on her desk
Asked if the Justice Department will publish Epstein's client list, Attorney-General Pam Bondi says it is "sitting on my desk right now to review".
The White House later clarifies Ms Bondi had been referring to documents relating to the Epstein case, not a "client list".
Following this, MAGA influencers are given declassified binders relating to the case, but much of what they contain is public information.
June 2025: Elon Musk says Trump is 'in the Epstein files'
Following a spectacular bromance break-up, billionaire Elon Musk says the US president is featured in the files.
"Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," he writes on X.
Mr Musk does not provide any evidence to substantiate the claim.
While once friends, the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump soon imploded, leading to the social media claim. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
July 7, 2025: Justice Department says it won't make files public
The US Justice Department says it will not make any more files public for fear of harming victims.
It also says Epstein did not maintain a client list and that there is no evidence of foul play in Epstein's death.
July 17, 2025: Trump sues after Wall Street Journal story
Amid renewed speculation, The Wall Street Journal reports Epstein received a sexually suggestive letter bearing Mr Trump's name.
The letter featured a drawing of a naked woman and the cryptic lines: "May every day be another beautiful secret."
The president calls the letter "false, malicious, and defamatory".
The next day, Mr Trump sues the paper and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
On July 17, Mr Trump also makes a lengthy Truth Social post in which he calls his supporters "weaklings" for questioning the transparency of an inquiry into Epstein.
"Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker," he writes online.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that Mr Trump "would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case".
July 18, 2025: Trump administration asks to unseal grand jury transcripts
The Trump administration asks a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein's case.
A Florida and New York judge have already rejected an attempt to unseal transcripts from both Epstein and Maxwell's cases.
July 23, 2025: House Oversight subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department
A House Oversight subcommittee votes to subpoena the Justice Department for files.
The full committee also issues a subpoena for Maxwell to testify before committee officials in August.
Ghislaine Maxwell was asked to testify before Congress. (Supplied: US Attorney's Office SDNY)
July 30, 2025: Trump says Epstein 'stole' girls from Mar-a-Lago
Mr Trump says he fell out with Epstein because the financier "stole" young women, including Virginia Giuffre, from his Mar-a-Lago club.
Ms Giuffre alleged she had been recruited by Maxwell while working at Mar-a-Lago as a high school student and then Epstein, Maxwell and others sexually abused her from about 1999 to 2002.
"When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people,'" Mr Trump tells reporters in his most expansive Epstein comments yet.
"And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"
It came as lawyers for Maxwell said they were open to having their client cooperate with Congress, but they wanted her to be guaranteed immunity by politicians first.
Loading...August 5, 2025: Maxwell opposes grand jury unsealing
Ghislaine Maxwell asks a Manhattan judge to deny the Trump administration's request to unseal grand jury transcripts.
Her lawyers argue public interest cannot "justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy" and her legal options remain "viable".
It comes as a top US House committee subpoenas Bill and Hillary Clinton and top-ranking law enforcement officials.
Mr Clinton was among a number of luminaries acquainted with Epstein. He has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein's victims.
August 14, 2025: Melania Trump sues Hunter Biden over 'defamatory' Epstein comments
First Lady Melania Trump demands former US president Joe Biden's son Hunter "retract the false, defamatory, and lewd" statements he made about her that referenced her relationship with Epstein.
Lawyers for Ms Trump say if Hunter Biden fails to retract his statements, she will seek more than $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) in damages.
The threat relates to Hunter Biden's July 21 interview with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan, according to the first lady's lawyer, Alejandro Brito.
In the interview, he alleged that "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump".
August 20, 2025: Justice Department agrees to give files to Congress
The Justice Department agrees to provide documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation to Congress.
Kentucky representative James Comer, the Republican committee chair, says it will take some time for officials to release the files in question.
The House committee's subpoena seeks all documents and communications from the case files of Epstein and Maxwell.
It also demands records about communications between Joe Biden's administration and the Justice Department regarding Epstein, as well as documents related to an earlier federal investigation into Epstein in Florida that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement.
August 23, 2025: Justice officials release Maxwell interviews
Interviews between Maxwell and Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche are released.
In the interviews, Maxwell says she never saw Mr Trump "in any inappropriate setting in any way".
"In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects," she says, according to the transcript.
She added that she never heard Epstein or anyone else allude to Mr Trump doing "anything inappropriate with masseuses".
She also denies allegations concerning former president Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
August 26, 2025: House committee subpoenas Epstein's estate
The House Oversight Committee subpoenas Epstein's estate, demanding it provides Congress with documents including the book that was compiled with notes from friends for his 50th birthday.
Other items include his last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.
September 3, 2025: US House Committee release 33,000 pages on Epstein
A first batch of more than 33,000 pages of files are released by a United States House of Representatives committee.
The documents largely include court files and other previously released information relating to Epstein and Maxwell.
The documents were being uploaded to a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website, Republican committee chair James Comer said.
"We're in the process of uploading those documents for full transparency so everyone in America can see those documents," he said.
"It's going as quick as we can get them uploaded.
"We want those to be public as soon as possible."
Mr Comer also tells NBC News there is "nothing new in the documents" that he has ordered the panel to released.