Which names in the Epstein flight logs have been corroborated by independent travel records or Secret Service logs?
Executive summary
The Epstein flight logs — a set of passenger manifests made public in litigation and DOJ releases — contain many high‑profile names that are also present in other government or media records; chief among them are Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and a roster of entertainers and financiers whose travel on Epstein aircraft has been independently documented by prior flight‑record reporting, Secret Service statements, and official DOJ/CBP releases [1] [2] [3]. However, the presence of a name in the logs and the existence of parallel travel records are not the same as corroborated evidence of criminal conduct, and some claims about Secret Service coverage or island visits remain disputed or qualified by official statements [2] [3].
1. Flight logs and official releases: the documentary baseline
The most direct corroboration comes from the flight logs themselves — documents produced in USA v. Maxwell and republished by the Justice Department and archival services — which list dates, tail numbers and passengers and have been used as the baseline for identifying who traveled on Epstein’s planes [1] [4]. These DOJ releases and archived PDFs are the original source material researchers and reporters cite when cross‑checking names against other records [1] [5].
2. Bill Clinton: the clearest case of cross‑record corroboration
Flight‑record reporting going back to 2016 showed that Bill Clinton traveled on Epstein’s aircraft on numerous occasions; mainstream outlets and later DOJ materials note multiple logged Clinton flights, and Clinton’s camp confirmed trips that included staff and Secret Service detail while denying visits to Epstein’s private island [2]. The Secret Service has publicly weighed in about specific trips, saying in at least some instances it found no evidence Clinton went to Little Saint James, and Clinton’s spokeswoman stated his flights included staff and Secret Service protection — a pattern that aligns the flight logs with independent executive‑branch records and public statements [2].
3. Donald Trump and other political figures: records and claims
Media reporting and DOJ releases have referenced entries showing Donald Trump on Epstein’s plane and internal notes reflecting that earlier flight records indicated Trump had flown on the jet more than previously reported; PBS summarized DOJ document batches highlighting references to Trump travel on Epstein aircraft [3]. That said, the interpretation of those entries has been contested publicly, and being listed on a log does not by itself establish the context or purpose of a trip [3].
4. Entertainers, financiers and academics: corroboration across reporting
Names repeatedly identified in the flight logs — including Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, Ron Burkle, Naomi Campbell, Alan Dershowitz and Larry Summers — have been reported in prior flight‑record reporting and contemporaneous media accounts that relied on the same aircraft manifests and related documentation [2]. Similarly, Epstein’s associates and family friends such as Ghislaine Maxwell and members of the Dubin family appear on hosted passenger lists in publicly posted logs and compilations [6] [4]. These multiple independent mentions across DOJ filings, archival PDFs and reporting constitute corroboration that those individuals were listed as passengers at particular times.
5. Secret Service logs and border records: partial corroboration, important limits
Some corroboration comes from border and agency records — for example, CBP releases and other entries produced in litigation show movement into and out of U.S. ports that align with some flight dates in the logs [7]. But Secret Service practices complicate simple matching: details of presidential protection travel are sometimes treated differently in public records, and Secret Service responses have sometimes clarified or disputed specific log interpretations [2]. Reporters and agencies caution that the absence of a Secret Service entry on a passenger list does not necessarily disprove a protectee’s presence, and conversely a log entry does not prove the presence of a protective detail or the purpose of travel [2] [3].
6. What the sources do and do not establish — and why it matters
DOJ/Archival flight logs and accompanying releases (DocumentCloud, DOJ PDFs) establish that specific names appear on manifests; contemporaneous reporting and some agency statements corroborate many of those appearances for figures such as Bill Clinton and a range of entertainers and financiers [1] [4] [2] [6]. What these documents do not do, by themselves, is prove illicit activity, the nature of each passenger’s relationship with Epstein, or in every case whether Secret Service or other official escorts were present — gaps that both reporters and officials have explicitly noted [2] [3]. Where sources diverge — for instance on island visits or on how often Secret Service was present — the public record contains qualified official statements rather than definitive, single‑source proof [2].