The Epstein files are a massive collection of over 300 gigabytes of evidence—including contact books, flight logs, and court documents—related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his social circle of politicians and celebrities. After President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law in November 2025, the Department of Justice released a small batch in December (drawing bipartisan criticism) and then a final, massive release of 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images in January 2026. The files frequently mention figures like Donald and Melania Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Jean-Luc Brunel, leading to increased public scrutiny. By February 2026, the releases had triggered criminal investigations into three people, including former Norwegian PM Thorbjørn Jagland (charged with aggravated corruption), Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and British politician Peter Mandelson. The background includes Epstein's 2008 plea deal for soliciting a minor, his 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges, and declassified FBI findings (released in 2026) that did not corroborate Virginia Giuffre's claim of a trafficking "ring," instead implicating only Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.