How dark web agent spotted bedroom wall clue to rescue girl from years of harm

Specialist online investigator Greg Squire had hit a dead end in his efforts to rescue an abused girl his team had named Lucy.

Disturbing images of her were being shared on the dark web - an encrypted corner of the internet only accessible using special software designed to make owners digitally untraceable.

But even with that level of subterfuge, the abuser was conscious of "covering their tracks", cropping or altering any identifying features, says Squire. It was impossible to work out who, or where, Lucy was.

What he was soon to discover was that the clue to the 12-year-old's location was hidden in plain sight.

Squire works for US Department of Homeland Security Investigations in an elite unit which attempts to identify children appearing in sexual abuse material.

A BBC World Service team has spent five years filming with Squire, and other investigative units in Portugal, Brazil, and Russia - showing them solving cases such as that of a kidnapped and presumed-dead seven-year-old in Russia, and the arrest of a Brazilian man responsible for five of the biggest child-abuse forums on the dark web. ... Read more

The Darkest Web: Inside the internet's most hidden corners to save kids | BBC World Service | 02/16/26 | 1:24:23

Who was Jeffrey Epstein? The disgraced financier with powerful associates

'Terrific guy'

A father of one of his students is said to have been so impressed that he put Epstein in touch with a senior partner at the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns.

He was a partner there within four years. By 1982, he had created his own firm - J Epstein and Co.

The company managed assets of clients worth more than $1bn (£800m) and was an instant success. Epstein soon began spending his fortune - including on a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and reputedly the largest private home in New York - and socialising with celebrities, artists and politicians.

"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump told New York magazine for a profile on Epstein in 2002. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

"No doubt about it - Jeffrey enjoys his social life." ... Read more

The Epstein Files Reveal What Trump Knew

A newly released F.B.I. report shows that Donald Trump contacted the police about Epstein's crimes as early as 2006. The Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown discusses the revelations.

If the Jeffrey Epstein case has a leading reporter on the national scene, her name is Julie K. Brown. An investigative journalist for the Miami Herald, Brown has interviewed dozens of Epstein's victims and has meticulously anatomized how Epstein managed to win preposterously favorable treatment in the courts. Brown's reporting on Epstein is credited with reopening the 2008 case against him. Her book "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story" was published in 2021.

The millions of documents recently (and chaotically) released by the Department of Justice have left Americans reading myriad e-mails and text messages that seem to describe, in their aggregate, a range of elites eager to curry favor with a criminal beyond the imaginings of the police blotter or the Marquis de Sade. The dreadful cast includes Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Steve Bannon, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Ehud Barak, as well as various Wall Street wizards and real-estate magnates. And yet Brown's main focus is on the names that fewer people know: the many girls and women who were treated for years with such cruelty. ... Read more

Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein birthday letter

A federal judge on Monday tossed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal for reporting on a racy letter he purportedly wrote to commemorate Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that Trump came "nowhere close" to asserting that the newspaper’s actions revealing the existence and contents of the note amounted to the "actual malice" needed for Trump to prevail in a defamation case.

"Quite the opposite," Gayles, a Florida-based Obama appointee, wrote in the 17-page decision.

Gayles emphasized the paper's extensive work to confirm the authenticity of the letter, despite Trump's claim it was a fake, and noted that the article included the president's objection and revealed attempts to contact the FBI and Justice Department for comment. ... Read more

Howard Lutnick will testify to Congress about Jeffrey Epstein next month

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to appear before Congress next month to face questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein that emerged with the release of documents about the convicted sex offender.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sought Lutnick's testimony as a part of its probe of the investigation into Epstein, who died in jail before he could face federal sex trafficking charges.

Lutnick's transcribed interview is slated for May 6, per two people familiar with the planning. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee's chair, announced last month that the commerce secretary had "proactively agreed to appear voluntarily" before the panel after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) vowed to force a vote to subpoena him. ... Read more

How We Read the Epstein Files

Honoring victims is telling the truth

I was sitting in class when I overheard two girls claim that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist, was in the Epstein files. I was immediately taken aback. I turned on my computer, pulled up the Epstein files, and searched Malala's name. There were 19 hits.

Needless to say, I was shocked. How could someone so prominent in the fight for women's rights show up on a list that has done so much to hurt them?

It seemed like her name's appearance was purely a consequence of her fame.

Coverage of the Epstein files is an important lesson to us all: we cannot believe everything we see on the internet. Make sure you do not perpetuate the spread of misinformation.

Read the Epstein files. Don't read the Epstein files. But if you're going to talk about sensitive topics, do your research. ... Read more

Will we ever get to the bottom of the Epstein files?

Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown talks about what's next in the unfinished release of Justice Department files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, now that Pam Bondi has been forced out as attorney general.

Then, Ret. Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery says, "We're not going to get regime change; we need a change in how the regime acts." He talks about Iran's persistent military capabilities, the dramatic rescue of a downed U.S. weapons systems officer and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's firing of U.S. Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George. ... Read more

After the release of the Epstein files, why have there been so few arrests?

In the more than two months since the Department of Justice released its latest batch of files on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, prosecutors have not brought any new charges based on the documents, despite federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle continuing to demand accountability.

The more than 3 million pages of documents include accusations by alleged victims of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's abuse and thousands of emails and photos showing Epstein associated with prominent figures. The files indicate that many of these people maintained contact with the disgraced financier long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to sex crimes that involved minors. Appearing in the files is not necessarily an indication of criminal wrongdoing.

Epstein died in prison about a month after a 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted on sex-trafficking charges in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence. Since the release of the files in 2025 and 2026, there have been no related arrests in the U.S. However, the disclosures have led to some resignations and other reputational repercussions for some high-ranking Americans. ... ... ... Read more

Sound of Freedom, co-written by Alejandro Monteverde

In 2013, Roberto Aguilar, a poor father of two from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is approached by a woman called Giselle. She offers to sign his young children, Rocío and Miguel Aguilar, to child modeling contracts. He accepts and takes them to the photoshoot. When he returns to pick up his children, they are gone. It is revealed that the children have been abducted and sold to be used as sex slaves.

In Calexico, California, Tim Ballard is a Special Agent for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), where he arrests people who possess and distribute child pornography. The painful work takes a great toll on his personal life, and this is only worsened when another agent, Chris, points out that despite arresting and prosecuting numerous child predators, they are largely unable to prevent more children from being exploited. ... Read more

Epstein Files About 13-Year-Old Trump Accuser Kept Secret

The Justice Department has not released dozens of Jeffrey Epstein files linked to allegations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted a child decades ago, according to a report.

The bombshell allegations involve a South Carolina woman who claims she was abused and trafficked by Epstein, and that the disgraced financier took her to New York or New Jersey and introduced her to Trump when she was about 13 in 1984.

A redacted FBI report released as part of the Epstein files revealed the woman told interviewers that Trump had forced her to perform a sexual act on him, and punched her on the side of her head after she allegedly "bit the s--t out of" his penis. ... Read more

Laura Dern to star in Epstein investigation limited series from Adam McKay

Laura Dern is taking on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, in a new limited series executive produced by Adam McKay based on journalist Julie K Brown's work busting open the story.

The as-yet untitled series from Sony Pictures TV will provide "an explosive account of an investigative reporter exposing the secret plea deal between Epstein and federal prosecutors", according to a logline from Sony. "Drawing from Brown's experience as a groundbreaking reporter for the Miami Herald, the book and the limited series follow her relentless, years-long investigation that identified 80 victims, persuaded key survivors to go on the record, and led to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's arrests." ... Read more

Epstein survivor who voted for Trump says she now fears 'we're not going to get justice'

After casting her vote for Donald Trump in 2024 in hopes that he would bring transparency around the Jeffrey Epstein case, Epstein survivor Jena Lisa Jones said in an interview this week that she now fears "we're not going to get justice in all of this".

"I wanted my day in court," said Jones, who has said she was abused by Epstein when she was 14, in an interview on the Shadow Sessions podcast that aired on Thursday morning. "I didn't get that, and we were so close to it, it really got ripped from us, and then after [Epstein] passed, everything just went into a circus show."

Jones said she backed Trump in the 2024 election because of his promises to release the files related to Epstein - who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors - and his network. ... Read more

Bank of America will pay $72.5M to settle lawsuit by Epstein victims

The lawsuit, filed in October 2025 under case number 25-cv-08520 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accused Bank of America of providing banking and financial services to Epstein and his associates while ignoring clear warning signs.

Plaintiffs alleged the bank failed to file required suspicious activity reports with federal authorities until after Epstein's death in August 2019, per CBS News.

The lead plaintiff, identified only as "BOA Jane Doe," said she was living in Russia when she met Epstein in 2011 and was coerced into what she described as a cult-like life. According to court filings, Epstein paid her rent and income through a Bank of America account while controlling her financially, emotionally, and psychologically, sexually abusing her on at least 100 occasions over eight years. ... Read more

How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime

On a muggy October morning in 2007, Miami's top federal prosecutor, Alexander Acosta, had a breakfast appointment with a former colleague, Washington, D.C., attorney Jay Lefkowitz.

His client, Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, 54, was accused of assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls — with the help of young female recruiters - to coerce into having sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found.

The eccentric hedge fund manager, whose friends included former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, was also suspected of trafficking minor girls, often from overseas, for sex parties at his other homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Caribbean, FBI and court records show.

Facing a 53-page federal indictment, Epstein could have ended up in federal prison for the rest of his life.

But on the morning of the breakfast meeting, a deal was struck - an extraordinary plea agreement that would conceal the full extent of Epstein's crimes and the number of people involved. ... Read more

Epstein accountant and lawyer say federal agents never questioned them

Jeffrey Epstein's accountant and his attorney have both said that federal government investigators never interviewed them about the late financier's crimes and their work with him, according to deposition videos released by the House of Representatives' oversight committee.

Richard Kahn, Epstein's accountant, and Darren Indyke, Epstein's lawyer, said in hours of closed-door interviews with the committee that they did not witness, nor were involved in, any wrongdoing relating to Epstein, who died in 2019 after being charged with child sex trafficking.

Both said that they were not interviewed by federal investigators about their knowledge of Epstein, again highlighting the large gaps in the justice department's work in holding Epstein and his associates accountable for his crimes. ... Read more

Epstein's longtime accountant testifies on his wealth and business ties

Richard Kahn, who worked closely with Epstein for years and now serves as an executor of his estate, appeared for the closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill. He told lawmakers that he had not personally seen evidence of Epstein's sexual abuse, but provided a fuller picture of how Epstein acquired his wealth. The wealthy financier made hundreds of millions of dollars over two decades during which he struck up friendships with some of the world's most powerful men.

Kahn "was under the impression that Epstein made his money as a tax advisor and a financial planner," said Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers argued that a fuller picture of Epstein's finances could help the public understand how for years he was able to get away with trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls.

"Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without Richard Kahn, who managed Epstein's money for years, authorized payments, including payments to victims and survivors," said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., who added that Kahn told them he was unable to recall details of some of the transactions and communications that he was asked about. ... Read more

Would Epstein victims have been denied help after changes to UK slavery system?

Survivors of sex trafficking offences similar to those committed by Jeffrey Epstein may be refused support under the UK's modern slavery system due to immigration law changes introduced by the previous government, experts have warned.

Sara* was trafficked around the UK and sexually exploited in her teens and into adulthood, in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Over the years, she told openDemocracy, "different groups of perpetrators were involved at different time periods."

When Sara was referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) - the system designed to identify and support victims and survivors of modern slavery - the Home Office asked her to produce extensive evidence of her exploitation and take part in interviews totalling many hours.

Gathering the required information was challenging, Sara said, "as much of the abuse occurred in circumstances where I had little control, and there was limited documentation or tangible proof available to me." She added that it "was extremely difficult to provide specific dates and timelines" for abuse that took place repeatedly over many years. ... Read more

DOJ releases Epstein files containing sexual assault allegations against Trump

Ali Rogin:

Geoff, these documents are known as 302 files. There's summaries of three interviews the FBI conducted with this accuser in which she alleges that Epstein brought her to meet Trump some time between when she was age 13 and 15.

She details in very graphic terms Trump's sexual, alleged sexual assault against her and how she fought back. She also says she had two additional interactions with Trump, but before she expanded on that any further, she asked if she could go on to another subject.

During the last interview with the accuser, the FBI asked if she would be comfortable sharing more about her contacts with Trump. She said at the time that she didn't know what the point would be when there was a strong possibility nothing could be done about it. And it's unclear, Geoff, if there was any additional follow-up after that last interview. ... Read more

Jeffrey Epstein lost an address book. One man's quest brought it to rural Vermont.

Christopher Helali had been fascinated by Epstein and what his story said about global power and politics in today's world. He took a chance on an eBay listing and picked up the artifact at the post office near his home in Vershire.

Five years ago, Christopher Helali saw the book for sale online and took a gamble, spending a few hundred bucks on the off chance the artifact was the real thing.

When the "little black book" filled with the contacts of the world's most notorious sex criminal arrived in Vershire, Helali picked it up at the post office and opened it in gloves and a mask, careful not to leave fingerprints. Though at the time the veracity of the document remained in question, Helali himself was quickly convinced.

"Within a few moments, it was very much apparent that this was a legitimate item," he recalled. He was in possession of the only known, publicly held object of its kind. ... Read more

How Did Jeffrey Epstein's Phone Book End Up On A Farm In Vermont | Insider Docs | Business Insider | 2022 | 9:56

Bags of shredded documents at NY jail after Epstein's death, officer tells FBI

Less than a week after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead inside his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, something was afoot inside an office where the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ After Action Team had set up a probe into what had happened to their most high-profile inmate.

The FBI was told that there were people shredding documents. Bags of them.

An inmate at the jail was ordered to take the bags of shredded material to MCC's rear gate and throw them in a dumpster on Thursday, Aug. 15, and again on Friday, Aug. 16, days after Epstein's Aug. 10 death, records show. The sheer volume of material seemed unusual, the inmate noted.

"They are shredding everything," the inmate told one of the guards, adding that he was asked to give the officials, whom he did not recognize, a hand with the shredding. ... Read more

Epstein Scandal EXPLODES with SHREDDED DOCS?! | MeidasTouch | 03/22/26 | 13:10 (play at 1.7 speed)

Democrats pile on Trump for post celebrating Mueller's death

Democrats are skewering President Donald Trump after he proclaimed on Saturday that he was glad former special counsel Robert Mueller had died.

"Every day, this president shows his basic indecency and unfitness for office," Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on X in response to Trump’s statement.

The diatribe, in which Trump said he was "glad he's dead" because he "can no longer hurt innocent people," drew fierce condemnation from Democrats.

"The cruelty is the point," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. "Trump's goal is to distract you from rising gas prices, his aimless war, ICE abuses, and the Epstein files. Don't give him what he wants. And may Robert Mueller, a US Marine and lifelong public servant, rest in peace." ... Read more

Jared Kushner's War | Leeja Miller | 03/21/26 | 21:09

Have we seen the last of the Epstein files? Lawmakers and victims want more released

A transparency law passed by Congress has forced the release of more Epstein files than ever before, but some lawmakers and victims are exploring ways to push the Justice Department to disclose even more information from the voluminous trove that's being withheld.

Some 2.5 million documents in the Justice Department's investigative files on late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not been publicly released, and many of the 3.5 million pages that have been published are heavily redacted, prompting questions about what's being kept from the public.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are exploring new legislation and still want to depose Attorney General Pam Bondi under oath about her handling of the Epstein files, which could provide a window into what is being withheld. Bondi met voluntarily with committee members behind closed doors on Wednesday, but it erupted when Democrats stormed out of the room in frustration, saying she would not commit to complying with her subpoena. ... Read more

The Epstein files' cottage industry

The fallout from the Epstein files has created a mini hiring boom for elite lawyers.

Scores of people named in the files - including high-profile figures as well as people whose names may have simply been mentioned in an email - have turned to criminal defense lawyers to help them navigate public scrutiny or professional blowback from their relationship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

Major organizations and academic institutions have also enlisted some of the biggest white-shoe law firms to conduct internal investigations into their ties to Epstein and Maxwell. Some senior executives at companies have quietly hired attorneys to review employees who have appeared in the files, or in some cases check whether an employee with a common name is the same person named in the files, according to a lawyer familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive business.

And, of course, Epstein victims, too, have enlisted counsel... Read more

List of people named in the Epstein files

The Epstein files comprise over six million pages of documents detailing the activities of American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. So far about three and a half million files have been made public with redactions, among them 180,000 images and 2,000 videos.

This article lists people who cultivated relationships with Epstein, as evidenced in the released files and reported in reliable sources. Among others, they were professionals he hired; people who hired him; scholars he entertained and funded; powerful men and women; Silicon Valley elite, royalty, and political leaders who provided connections and companionship; people who wanted to stand close to the wealthy and connected; and lifelong friends.

No wrongdoing is established by merely appearing in the documents and people featured in the files commonly deny any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein's life and crimes.

At the time of his death, Epstein's estate was valued at $600 million, from which hundreds of millions have been paid to at least 136 women in legal settlements. Additional settlements of $290m from JP Morgan, and $75m from Deutsche Bank, followed lawsuits which alleged these banks had enabled Epstein's abuse by retaining him as a client. ... Read more on Wikipedia

Relationship of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein

Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, developed a social and professional relationship with financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that began in the late 1980s and continued into at least the early 2000s. During Trump's prior careers as a businessman and media personality before entering politics in 2015, he and Epstein visited each other's real estate properties regularly. Trump and Epstein socialized frequently throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including attending parties at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Epstein's residence. Flight logs released during an associate's trial confirm that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet multiple times in the 1990s, and according to Epstein, Trump first had sex with his future wife Melania Knauss in his private jet. Trump had a falling out with Epstein around 2004 and ceased contact. After Epstein was said to have sexually harassed a teenage daughter of another Mar-a-Lago member in 2007, Trump banned him from the club. Epstein said, in a 2019 email attributed by NBC News and Axios to the event, that he had never been a member of the club. ... Read more on Wikipedia

NEW POLL: Majority of Americans Believe Trump Launched Iran War to Cover Up Epstein Scandal

There has been no shortage of surveys of the American public's attitude toward the war on Iran, and the polls have all found broadly the same dynamic: Democrats are strongly opposed, independents lean against, and Republicans are broadly supportive.

But all of this polling, done by reputable survey companies and paid for by mainstream media outlets, has conspicuously avoiding asking tough questions about the motivations behind the war. Or, at least, we found it conspicuous.

Nobody, for instance, has surveyed the American public to ask them whether they believe this war is being fought in the interests of the American public or on behalf of Israel. And nobody has asked whether Trump launched the war to distract the public from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. ... Read more