{"id":1404551,"date":"2026-02-05T13:01:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/?p=1404551&preview=true&preview_id=1404551"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:05:00","slug":"epstein-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/05\/epstein-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the fight to make the government\u2019s files public"},"content":{"rendered":"

By The Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

For much of two decades, police, FBI agents and prosecutors investigated allegations that Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> sexually abused underage girls. Now, the Justice Department has released much of what they found to the public.<\/p>\n

The millions of documents comprise the most detailed look yet at the inner workings of the multiple investigations into Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n

Those documents include some of the earliest police reports taken by police in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as recordings of some of Epstein\u2019s victims speaking on the phone and to investigators. And it includes internal Justice Department emails from as recently as a few months ago.<\/p>\n

\"A
A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, photographed Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, shows a diagram prepared by the FBI attempting to chart the network of Epstein’s victims and the timeline of their alleged abuse. (AP Photo\/Jon Elswick)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a timeline of the Epstein investigations and the efforts to open up the government\u2019s files:<\/p>\n

The investigation begins<\/h4>\n

March 2005: Palm Beach police begin investigating Epstein after the family of a 14-year-old girl reports she was molested at his mansion. Multiple underage girls, many of them high school students, would later tell police that Epstein hired them to give sexual massages.<\/p>\n

May 2006: Police officials sign paperwork to charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor, but the county\u2019s top prosecutor, State Attorney Barry Krischer, takes the unusual step of sending the case to a grand jury.<\/p>\n

July 2006: Epstein is arrested after a grand jury indicts him on a count of soliciting prostitution. The relatively minor charge upsets Palm Beach police leaders, who publicly accuse Krischer<\/a> of giving Epstein special treatment. The FBI begins an investigation.<\/p>\n

2007: Federal prosecutors prepare an indictment, but for a year Epstein\u2019s lawyers engage in talks with the U.S. attorney in Miami<\/a>, Alexander Acosta, about a deal that would avoid federal prosecution. Epstein\u2019s lawyers decry his accusers as unreliable.<\/p>\n

Secret deal leads to a light jail term<\/h4>\n

June 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to state charges: one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He is sentenced to 18 months in jail. Under a secret arrangement<\/a>, the U.S. attorney\u2019s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein serves most of his sentence in a work-release program that allows him to leave jail during the day.<\/p>\n

May 2009: One of Epstein\u2019s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, files a lawsuit claiming Epstein and Maxwell arranged for her to have sexual encounters with \u201croyalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen\u201d and others. The lawsuit doesn\u2019t name the men.<\/p>\n

July 2009: Epstein is released from jail. For the next decade, Epstein\u2019s accusers wage a legal fight to get his federal non-prosecution agreement voided.<\/p>\n

News media and lawsuits keep public interest high<\/h4>\n

March 2, 2011: The Daily Mail publishes an interview with Giuffre in which she describes traveling with Epstein to London at age 17 and spending a night dancing with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Prince Andrew<\/a>. The story and a photo of the prince with his arm around Giuffre creates a crisis for the royal family. FBI agents subsequently interview Giuffre.<\/p>\n

Dec. 30, 2014: Giuffre\u2019s lawyers file court papers claiming she had sexual encounters with Mountbatten-Windsor and other men, including \u201cforeign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.\u201d All those men deny the allegations.<\/p>\n

November 2018: The Miami Herald revisits the handling of Epstein\u2019s case<\/a> in a series of stories focusing partly on the role of Acosta \u2014 who by this point is President Donald Trump\u2019s labor secretary. The coverage intensifies public interest in Epstein.<\/p>\n

New York prosecutors revive case<\/h4>\n

Dec. 6, 2018: FBI agents and the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Manhattan begin a new investigation into Epstein.<\/p>\n

July 6, 2019: Epstein is arrested on new sex trafficking charges<\/a> brought by the prosecutors in New York, who have concluded they aren\u2019t bound by the earlier non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in Florida. Days later, Acosta resigns as labor secretary.<\/p>\n

Aug. 10, 2019: Epstein kills himself in his jail cell<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n

July 2, 2020: Federal prosecutors in New York charge Maxwell with sex crimes<\/a>, saying she helped recruit and abuse Epstein\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n

Dec. 30, 2021: After a monthlong trial, a jury convicts Maxwell<\/a> of sex trafficking and other crimes.<\/p>\n

June 28, 2022: Maxwell is sentenced to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n

January, 2024: Public interest in the Epstein case surges again after a judge makes more court records public<\/a> in a related lawsuit.<\/p>\n

A new president and a fresh political crisis<\/h4>\n

Jan. 20, 2025: Trump, who was friends and neighbors with Epstein for years, becomes president again. During his 2024 campaign, he had suggested that he\u2019d seek to open more government files on Epstein.<\/p>\n

February 2025: Attorney General Pam Bondi suggests in a Fox News Channel interview<\/a> that an Epstein \u201cclient list\u201d is sitting on her desk. The Justice Department distributes binders marked \u201cdeclassified\u201d to far-right influencers, but much of the information had long been public<\/a>.<\/p>\n