Which public figures are explicitly named in the DOJ’s Epstein files and where can the released documents be searched directly?
Executive summary
The Department of Justice’s mass release of Jeffrey Epstein-related material explicitly names a wide-ranging set of public figures — politicians, royals, business leaders and media figures — though inclusion in the files is not a finding of wrongdoing and many named people have denied misconduct; the documents themselves are hosted on the Justice Department’s Epstein library and related disclosure pages [1] [2]. The releases are searchable directly through the DOJ’s Epstein portal (including Data Sets identified in DOJ announcements) and have been mined and reported on by major outlets that catalog prominent names [1] [3] [4].
1. Who the files explicitly name: a who’s‑who reported by outlets
The DOJ files and the media trawls of them show repeated explicit mentions of high-profile figures: former President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and billionaire Elon Musk are included among names appearing in the documents, according to multiple outlets reviewing the release [3] [4] [5]. Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) appears frequently across the files, in news clippings, correspondence and guest lists [5] [6]. Business leaders and philanthropists cited in the released records include Bill Gates and retail billionaire Leslie Wexner [4]. Other named public figures reported in the tranche include Steve Bannon, Steve Tisch, Howard Lutnick, and philanthropists and cultural gatekeepers like Peggy Siegal and (in ancillary social lists) Woody Allen and George Stephanopoulos, as documented by news organizations analyzing the dump [7] [4] [6] [8].
2. What “named” means here — redactions, context and DOJ caveats
The Justice Department and reporters stress that being named or photographed in the material does not equate to an allegation proven in court; the DOJ warned that some released items contain “untrue and sensationalist claims,” and the releases include heavy, inconsistent redactions intended to protect victims and sensitive material [3] [9] [4]. Survivors’ advocates and members of Congress have criticized the release for naming victims while redacting alleged perpetrators inconsistently and for withholding millions of potentially responsive pages from public view, underscoring the uneven informational context in which names appear [8] [6] [10].
3. Where to search the released documents directly
The primary, authoritative place to search and download the released material is the DOJ’s Epstein hub — the “Epstein Library” page on Justice.gov — and its accompanying disclosures portal, which hosts the data sets, images and videos the department has posted pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act [1] [2] [11]. Newsrooms flag specific datasets by number in the DOJ repository (for example, recent uploads referenced as Data Sets 9–12 in press coverage), and the DOJ’s public statement and downloadable index point users to the department’s pages for the full files [3] [2].
4. How reporters and researchers are using the files — and the limits of current reporting
News organizations including The New York Times, BBC, PBS, CBS, CNBC and The Guardian have published lists and examples of named individuals after combing the DOJ repository and related materials, and those reports are the principal means by which most public names have been cataloged for readers [4] [12] [7] [3] [8] [6]. However, the DOJ says it withheld or redacted substantial portions of the collections — Congress and some lawmakers say millions more pages may remain — so any publicly circulated list is provisional and shaped by editorial choices and the department’s redaction process [10] [8]. The DOJ’s own web pages are the definitive source to verify whether a specific name appears in the released records and to examine the underlying document in context [1] [2].