BOULDER COUNTY - On Monday, July 7, 2025, the Justice Department released an official memo, in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), regarding their investigation of infamous financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

While it was confirmed that Epstein had harmed thousands of victims, members of President Donald J. Trump’s base are dissatisfied by an alleged lack of transparency. 

The memo detailed the DOJ’s sourcing of evidence, having searched databases and hard drives, as well as desks, closets, and locked cabinets. It stated having found “physical evidence” and more than 300 gigabytes of digital data.

That data was reported to have revealed “a large volume of images of Epstein, images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors, and over ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.” 

According to the Justice Department and FBI, only a fraction of the material would ever have been released publicly due to court-ordered sealing of sensitive information.

The controversy surrounding this memo stems not from the continued redaction of such sensitive information, but from the reported results of the investigation stating there was no “client list,” and that Epstein died by suicide.   

The Justice Department claims that the conclusion of their investigation is consistent with previous autopsy findings made nine days after Epstein’s death back in August, 2019, and matches the conclusions made in the investigation by the federal correctional officers responsible for guarding Epstein. 

Within the memo, links to “raw footage” from the video feed facing Epstein’s prison cell were provided. 

“The FBI’s independent review of this footage confirmed that from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at around 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, until around 6:30 am the next morning, nobody entered any of the tiers in the Special Housing Unit,” the memo reads.

“During this review, the FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability.”

Review of the footage indicates that it was in fact two source video files edited together using Adobe Premiere Pro software. Further analysis shows that two minutes and 53 seconds were cut from one of those files. 

Back in February, 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi briefly clashed with FBI Director Kash Patel over the handing over of “thousands” of documents related to the Epstein investigation that were withheld after Bondi’s official request.

Only 200 pages were released then, documenting Epstein’s sexual exploitation of over 250 girls. Though Bondi had described the release as “long overdue accountability,” the majority of the released pages had been previously leaked. 

WSJ bombshell

The continued miscommunication and subsequent revelation of there being no “client list” has caused ripples in the Republican Party and among Republican voters.

While Trump chastised the media and his base for continuing to push the Epstein issue, a bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was released, implicating a connection between Epstein and Trump. 

The report details a collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 and highlights a note, supposedly written and signed by Trump, which is written out artistically to create an outline of a naked woman.

The birthday message includes suggestive language, stating that Trump shares “certain things in common” with Epstein. Trump not only immediately denied the authenticity of the note, claiming to never have drawn such a picture before, he responded with a $20 million lawsuit against WSJ’s owner Rupert Murdoch.

This response has been Trump’s strategy for some time, and has garnered him successful results. In March of 2024, Trump sued ABC for alleged defamation by anchor George Stephanopoulos; ABC’s parent company Disney settled for $16 million toward Trump’s presidential library.

Social media giants Meta and X have also settled major lawsuits by Trump, with more cases still pending, and most recently, Paramount settled with Trump for $16 million to his library regarding his lawsuit against CBS over their airing of an allegedly biased 60 Minutes segment. 

Clamor for files

Despite Trump’s claims that the so-called “Epstein Files” were created by the Democrats, the controversy surrounding Epstein has proven to be too big to sweep under the rug, as political experts believe that interest in the case will persist mostly due to the conspiratorial fervor that Trump himself helped to create during his political campaigns.

Reported in-fighting between Bondi and law enforcement agencies, which resulted in widespread, yet-untrue rumors of FBI Director Patel’s resignation, is only adding to the fervor, and is resulting in both Democratic and Republican leaders calling for a governmental committee investigation.   

“Of course we want answers,” Representative Lauren Boebert said in an interview with conservative influencer and commentator Benny Johnson. “No one is satisfied with what has been received, or lack thereof. No one is satisfied with the rollout of this. I think moving forward, we need a special counsel,” she said, adding that former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz should be appointed.

Gaetz was recently subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation which reported that he had solicited prostitutes, had sex with a 17-year-old, broke Florida’s statutory rape laws, and used illegal drugs. Gaetz resigned from the House and dropped out of consideration for head of the Justice Department. No charges have been filed against him. 

Further testimony

The Epstein fallout caused embarrassment in the House this week as Speaker Mike Johnson ended up closing voting on Wednesday, despite telling reporters that he would not be sending lawmakers home before Thursday, which was to be the last day of scheduled voting before summer recess.  

The Republican-controlled House Rules Committee decided to recess in order not to pass any rulings for bills, specifically to avoid a demand from Democrats to take votes on forcing the release of all files pertaining to the Epstein investigation. 

This move by Johnson comes concurrently with a request from the Justice Department to a federal judge to release grand jury testimony against Epstein. Additionally, the Justice Department has reached out for testimony from Epstein’s former associate and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving 20 years in federal prison. 

The House Oversight Committee expects to subpoena Maxwell “expeditiously,” and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche plans to meet with Maxwell soon. There is some question as to whether Maxwell, who has been attempting to appeal her conviction, will oppose the release of specific information related to her and Epstein. 

Trafficking stats

Boulder County is no stranger to the issue of sex trafficking. In 2023, Colorado experienced 84 total human trafficking reports, the 10th highest in the country. There were only 74 reports made in all of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Between 2016 and 2020, there was an average of 48 reports made per year.

Adams County was responsible for 26% of the 84 reports in 2023; 21% of the reports occurred in El Paso County, 18% in Denver County, and 15% in Boulder County. 

With the recent increase in sex trafficking prosecutions in the area, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office has committed to adding a second human trafficking investigator to their efforts, and will increase their focus on online-related cases, involving the exploitation of minors who are making contact through social media to obtain drugs. 

According to an exclusive report from The Colorado Sun, Colorado has received a total of nine subpoenas from Immigration and Customs Enforcement since February, four of which involve the investigation of human trafficking, smuggling, and narcotics trafficking. 

One subpoena, which was found by a Colorado judge not to comply with state law, requested information regarding 35 sponsors of unaccompanied minors, to be used in an investigation into human trafficking. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing trafficking or exploitation, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.