U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS
National Public Radio's (NPR) Stephen Fowler and MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin reported, in late February, that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) withheld several Jeffrey Epstein documents that mention sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump. Those allegations have not been proven, but according to i Paper reporter Matthew Bailey, the fact that those files were withheld is adding to resentment over DOJ's handling of the Epstein files.
"The Epstein files are Donald Trump's 'political kryptonite,' experts say, as new evidence emerges that suggests his Justice Department has withheld documents relating to allegations that he sexually abused a minor," Fowler reports in an article published by the UK website in February 26. "Anger has grown since only around half of the six million files relating to…. Jeffrey Epstein held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) were released last month. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed in November 2025, was meant to force the whole tranche of documents to be made public."
Fowler continues, "Now, an investigation by U.S. outlet NPR has claimed the DOJ removed some documents mentioning Trump from the public database of files linked to the late financier. These include what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews as well as notes from conversations with a woman who, in 2019. accused the president of sexually abusing her in 1983, when she was 13. She claimed Epstein introduced her to Trump, who tried to force her to perform a sex act before punching her in the head. Trump's representatives have rebuffed the claims…. The allegation against Trump only briefly appears in the documents."
David Andersen, who teaches U.S. politics at Durham University in the U.K., believes the DOJ files in question were "withheld to protect President Trump."
Anderson told the i Paper, "He is terrified that his base will react negatively to his name appearing in the files…. (Trump) clearly put out the message through his administration that he has been completely exonerated and has no connection with Epstein whatsoever. It seems like this is directly contradicted by the evidence that there is unreleased material."
The Durham professor added, "I don't think there's anybody in America who expected the Trump Administration to actually release information that could be damaging to Trump… It is both surprising that it was so clumsily done and yet unsurprising that they tried to hide it."
Mark Shanahan, who teaches politics at the University of Surrey — another British university — described the Epstein files as "Trump's political kryptonite."
Shanahan told the i Paper, "There is something within those overall 6 million documents that worries him hugely. Any allegations of misconduct from Trump in the files that NPR have discovered would need to be investigated and substantiated. If it was substantiated, it could turn MAGA against him — particularly the evangelical Christian religious wing, which makes up a significant portion of MAGA.… What it will turn off, more and more, is independents who've leant Republican for the last couple of election cycles."
Shanahan continued, "They're not seeing the economic benefit, and here is a good reason to vote for the other side…. Under the law, the DOJ has the right to withhold files if releasing them would be prejudicial to the survivors or if it is an issue of national security. However, under the law and through the Epstein Papers Transparency Act of November 2025, it should not be about protecting political or powerful figures."
