Where can I find primary sources and annotated databases of the Epstein flight manifests?

1. Where the unredacted/manuscript manifests live: court exhibits and DocumentCloud

Handwritten flight logs and manifests were introduced into evidence in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and other court proceedings; DocumentCloud hosts a complete file of “Epstein Flight Manifests” you can view or download as PDFs ^{[8] [3]}. The Superior Court of the Virgin Islands docket and other court records included requests for “all flight logs, passenger manifests” tied to Epstein’s aircraft and estate, indicating many manifests are preserved in litigation records ^[9].

2. Searchable, annotated databases journalists built (Business Insider)

Business Insider compiled and published a searchable database claiming to combine flight manifests unsealed in court, ADS‑B signal data, and FAA flight records obtained via FOIA, yielding at least 2,618 trips between 1995 and July 2019; Insider presents it as a consolidated, annotated dataset you can query online ^{[1] [2]}. That database is presented as a synthesis of primary-flight manifests plus corroborating signal/FAA data rather than a simple republication of a single original manifest file ^[1].

3. Archival mirror copies and downloadable datasets

Several archive.org uploads host full-text and PDF versions of “Epstein Flight Logs” and an “unredacted” PDF dataset that purports to list individual passenger entries, aircraft tail numbers, dates and routes; these are usable as downloadable primary-source replicas of manifest pages ^{[4] [5] [10]}. These archived files can be helpful when you want an offline copy for verification, but confirm provenance against court-hosted PDFs when precision matters ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Government releases and committee disclosures to check

Government bodies have released flight logs or referenced them in document dumps: the Department of Justice released more than 100 pages of Epstein‑related documents including flight logs and a redacted contact book (reported Feb. 28, 2025), and the House Oversight Committee released flight records/transcripts that reference manifests ^{[6] [11]}. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also hosts a PDF labeled “Jeffrey Epstein records,” which may include border‑entry/exit information linked to flights ^[7]. Use these official release pages for authoritative copies and metadata.

5. What’s annotated vs. raw — and the limits of each source

Business Insider’s work is explicitly an annotated, synthesized database (combining manifests, ADS‑B and FAA records) and therefore includes analytic additions and cross‑correlations beyond raw manifests ^[1]. Archive mirrors and DocumentCloud present the original manifest pages but may omit context such as ADS‑B corroboration or FAA disclosure notes ^{[3] [4]}. Some earlier releases of flight logs were contested as “incomplete” or potentially sanitized by parties in litigation, which means researchers should compare multiple sources when validating a passenger entry or flight path ^[5].

6. Practical search strategy and verification steps

Start with Business Insider’s searchable database for quick queries and aggregated flight tallies, then retrieve the corresponding manifest pages on DocumentCloud or archived PDFs to view handwritten entries and signatures ^{[1] [3] [4]}. Cross‑check flight dates and tail numbers against FAA/ADS‑B records (Insider notes it used both) and, where relevant, consult DOJ or congressional releases for official versions ^{[2] [6] [11]}.

7. Competing viewpoints and caveats about interpretation

Journalistic databases and exhibits document names appearing on manifests, but presence on a manifest is not—by itself—proof of conduct; coverage and some filings note disputes over completeness and “sanitization” in earlier releases, and lawyers have used or disputed logs in litigation ^[5]. Business Insider frames its dataset as corroborated by multiple sources, while archive mirrors are raw captures that may lack FOIA/FAA corroboration ^{[1] [5]}.

8. Bottom line for researchers and journalists

Primary-source manifests are accessible via DocumentCloud and court records; downloadable archived PDFs provide raw logs; and Business Insider offers an annotated, searchable synthesis combining those manifests with FAA/ADS‑B data for easier analysis ^{[3] [4] [5] [1] [2]}. For rigorous work, use the synthesized database to find leads and then verify each entry against the original manifest PDFs or government-released documents ^{[1] [3] [6]}.