Welcome back to The Cover-Up! Glad you’re with us to follow the latest developments and collectively turn information into justice.
With just eight days to go before Election Day, the Epstein files are, once again, front and center.
On Monday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee published a staff report arguing that the files point to President Donald Trump — and that the Justice Department, under Attorney General Todd Blanche, has worked to bury that evidence.
Now they’re calling for an independent special counsel to investigate Trump, examine Blanche’s conflicts of interest and find out why the DOJ won’t hand over evidence to investigators in the states and overseas.
Read our full breakdown of the report →
The Accounts
Eleven women’s accounts form the core of the report. Five say Trump raped or sexually assaulted them while Epstein was present. Two of them, former model Stacey Williams and former pageant contestant Beatrice Keul, have spoken under their own names. Democrats argue that the evidence clears the FBI’s bar for opening an investigation. Trump denies wrongdoing, and the White House says he has been “totally exonerated.”
Staff are upfront about what they couldn’t nail down: some accounts are secondhand and one couldn’t be verified. But it’s the section on the Justice Department where the report hits hardest.
The DOJ Case
Before he became attorney general, Blanche was Trump’s personal defense lawyer. The report says his July 2025 interview with Ghislaine Maxwell “potentially constituted witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding.” The transcript shows him redirecting her away from one victim’s allegations (”Let’s not talk about individuals”), and soon after, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison camp.
Staff also lay out how investigative files were moved to Washington, how FBI interview records went missing from the public release, and how the department closed the case while insisting no one else warranted investigation.
Longtime readers will recognize the names. Blanche has been on our Contradictions Tracker since day one, and the report points to others we’ve covered, including Paolo Zampolli, Leon Black and Jes Staley.
Meet the Team: Jackie Appel
If the Justice Department won’t share what it has with state and foreign investigators, reporting from the ground becomes even more important. That’s why we’re glad to introduce the newest member of The Cover-Up team.
Jackie Appel is a writer, editor and proud New Mexico transplant with a master’s degree in journalism from New York University. She’s passionate about bringing attention to important stories and keeping that attention for as long as necessary. She is supervised in her home office by her two cats.
We asked Jackie a few questions about her work:
What drew you to the Epstein story, and to New Mexico specifically?
“Some of the most powerful people in our country have gotten away with facilitating and perpetrating abuse for many years, and I felt as though the New Mexico segment of that story was being overlooked on a national stage.”
What are you digging into right now?
“I’m in the process of investigating Epstein’s connections to scientists and academia at large, with a specific focus on the Santa Fe Institute.”
What’s one thing about Zorro Ranch that most people don’t know?
“Epstein’s girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, was a dentist and applied for her license in New Mexico saying she would be starting a practice at Zorro Ranch. Supplies were delivered to the ranch, and there are accounts of victims waking up next to medical equipment, but there is no record of her ever actually practicing dentistry.”
What kind of tips would help you most?
“Any information tied to the day-to-day operations of the ranch — especially firsthand accounts — would be extraordinarily valuable.”
If you know something about Zorro Ranch, the Santa Fe Institute or Epstein’s New Mexico operations, send Jackie a tip.
The people named in these files are hoping it all goes quiet after Election Day. We’re here to make sure it doesn’t.
Keep following the record
Contradictions Tracker: what the Epstein class said vs. what the files show
Coverage + Accountability: everyone we’re tracking and where they stand now
Search the files yourself: more than 1.2 million documents
Below the Beltway: Camaron Stevenson’s weekly reporting from the Hill
American Freakshow: Nina Burleigh and Katie Chenoweth on MAGA extremism, every Tuesday