NPR Report Says DOJ Withheld Epstein Files Containing Abuse Allegations Against Trump

An NPR (Lean Left bias) report said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has "withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President [Donald] Trump sexually abused a minor." 

The Details: The exclusive report, released on Tuesday, found the DOJ additionally "removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump." The department argued that such documents – which include "what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor" – required further review. 

NPR's report stated, "The woman who directly named Trump in her abuse allegation claimed that around 1983, when she was around 13 years old, Epstein introduced her to Trump, 'who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed p***s which she subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out.'" The FBI reportedly "marked most of the accusations as unverifiable or not credible." Another victim, who was also a minor, "described how, at one point, Epstein took her to Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club to meet him. 'Epstein told Trump, "This is a good one, huh."'"

For Context: The DOJ released about three million pages of Epstein files in late January, though the release was six weeks past the legal mandate and partially redacted. See what the latest files tell us and what's next for the notorious case.

How The Media Covered It: While NPR's report was intrinsically disadvantageous toward Trump, it gave voice to spokespeople on both the left and right. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said, "Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes," and announced that the House Oversight Democrats would further investigate the issue. Meanwhile, a White House spokeswoman maintained that Trump "has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him." 

Aside from an opinion piece published on Breitbart (Right), no outlets on the right of the AllSides Media Bias Chart™ covered this story as of Wednesday morning, exhibiting a bias by story choice. The opinion piece criticized NPR's report as a "hoax" and highlighted the FBI's conclusion of some accusations as "unverifiable or not credible."

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