First it was Clinton, now it's Trump's time in Epstein files spotlight

 Bill Clinton had his moment in the spotlight when the Epstein files were first released. It was Donald Trump's turn on Tuesday.

The sitting president's name surfaced repeatedly in a new tranche of thousands of documents in the Justice Department's "Epstein Library" released Dec. 23.

Trump's repeated flights – at least eight in the 1990s − on Jeffrey Epstein's "Lolita Express." A federal subpoena sent to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Other mentions of Trump, some unverified.

Four days after Trump's team trumpeted Clinton's name in the first batch of documents, his Justice Department took the proactive step of issuing a preemptive statement declaring that the new batch contained "untrue and sensationalist" accusations against Trump made before the 2020 election. "To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already," the department said.

Trump is among many famous people whose names have appeared in the batch of thousands of new Epstein files, which were required by law to be released to the public in a searchable format. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier who was charged with trafficking minor girls for illicit sex.

As was the case with earlier releases, the lack of a good search function, the large volume of materials – and the redaction of a broad range of names beyond just Epstein victims and survivors – made it difficult to find specific items.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said DOJ lawyers are sifting through the materials to ensure that victims aren’t named or identified, and that it could take several weeks to produce the remaining hundreds of thousands of pages. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and victim advocates, have expressed concerns that authorities have not released, despite the Dec. 19 deadline imposed by Congress.

This release, though, has provided many more references to Trump. None of them implicate him directly in any wrongdoing. Trump has repeatedly denied any illegal or improper conduct.

But Democrats and victim advocates seized on the new revelations as evidence that the department was trying to shield the president from embarrassing disclosures in connection with Epstein. The two were close friends in the 1990s and early 2000s before having a falling out.

“Donald Trump thinks our investigation is a hoax and should be over,” the ranking Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, posted on X. “Mr. President, we are just getting started.”

Only Epstein and Maxwell have been charged. She is serving 20 years in prison after being convicted of conspiring with Epstein to entice girls to travel for illicit sex. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019, authorities concluded, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Here are five key takeaways from the Dec. 23 data dump as USA TODAY reporters comb through the thousands of new Epstein documents.

DOJ mentioned Epstein 'co-conspirators'

Just days after Epstein's 2019 arrest, federal agents wrote to each other about locating “10 co-conspirators” and discussed plans to serve them with subpoenas, according to a just-released email.

On July 9, an unnamed staffer referenced locating three of these individuals in Florida, one in Boston, one "last night" in New York and one in Connecticut. The identities of these co-conspirators are largely unknown, but other email threads reference Maxwell and an interview with Les Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret, who was a longtime Epstein business partner.

Another thread references “Brunel,” likely a reference to Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model scout tied to Epstein.

A third summary document references the 10 subpoenas and notes that two of the individuals are pilots. Lawrence "Larry" Visoski is depicted elsewhere in the files and was Epstein's longtime pilot, although none of the documents have explicitly named him as a co-conspirator.

Trum flew on Epstein's jet 'many more times than previously has been reported'

One email, dated Jan. 7, 2020, shows that an unidentified federal prosecutor wrote that newly obtained flight records indicated Trump had flown on Epstein's private jet eight times between 1993 to 1996. During that period, Trump was a high-flying real estate developer who frequently socialized with Epstein after his 1992 divorce from first wife Ivana Trump and through his divorce from his second wife, Marla Maples, in 1999.

Trump had flown on Epstein's jet, the assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York wrote, "many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware). including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case."

On at least four of those flights, Maxwell was also on board along with Trump.

Trump, the prosecutor said, "is listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric."

"On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and a "then-20-year-old" person whose name is redacted.

On two other flights, the prosecutor wrote, "two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case. We've just finished reviewing the full records (more than 100 pages of very small script) and didn't want any of this to be a surprise down the road."

Feds subpoenaed suspected Epstein case evidence from Mar-a-Lago

Federal prosecutors in New York sent a subpoena to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2021, to provide testimony and evidence in the criminal case against Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The subpoena from then U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss sought "any and all employment records relating to" a person whose name was redacted.

Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, has said Epstein “stole” female staffers away from Mar-a-Lago to work for him.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was among the most outspoken of Epstein's accusers and died by suicide in April, said Maxwell recruited her to work for Epstein when she was working as a 16-year-old Mar-a-Lago locker room assistant.