Judge Gives DOJ 14 Days to Release FBI Notes on Trump's Alleged Sexual Assault of a Girl as Young as 13

A federal judge has ordered the US Justice Department to publish handwritten FBI interview notes concerning allegations that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused a girl aged between 13 and 15. The records must be placed in the department's online Epstein Library by 23 November, unless an appeal triggers a temporary pause.

Senior US District Judge Emmet G Sullivan's ruling shifts attention from the volume of released files to how investigators documented the woman's account.

Why the Original FBI Notes Matter

The handwritten notes were used to prepare three FBI Form 302 reports documenting interviews conducted in 2019. The woman alleged that Trump, Epstein, and others sexually abused and physically assaulted her when she was aged between 13 and 15. These are allegations, not findings made by a court.

Sullivan personally examined the notes, including versions containing proposed redactions. The Justice Department had argued that handwritten material was difficult to redact. Katie Phang, the journalist and lawyer who brought the case, challenged that position, pointing to more than 100 handwritten records the department had already released with redactions.

The judge directed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to publish the notes within 14 days of the 9 November order. The department must notify the court within 24 hours.

The order does not automatically suspend the deadline. If Blanche applies to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a stay and expedited review before the deadline, publication will be temporarily paused while the appeals court considers the application.

Separate Deadlines Put DOJ's Records Process Under Scrutiny

Sullivan also rejected the department's request to postpone filing the certified administrative record, covering material considered in the challenged decision. The court set 17 November for a certified list and 1 December for the full record. Sullivan said the public and the court should not have to reconstruct the government's decision-making from material scattered across websites.

A third order requires a status report by 10 December on the review of foreign-language documents. It must include a declaration from someone with personal knowledge and explain the review's progress and expected publication timetable.

The case, Katie Phang v Todd Blanche, was brought under the Administrative Procedure Act. Phang is challenging the department's handling of records covered by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on 19 November 2025. The law required covered unclassified records to be released within 30 days, subject to statutory exceptions.

The department announced on 30 January 2026 that it had published nearly 3.5 million pages. On 28 October, the D.C. Circuit declined to pause separate proceedings concerning foreign-language records.

Publication Will Not Resolve the Allegations

The notes could allow the public to compare investigators' original records with typed summaries prepared from the interviews. Their release will not establish whether the woman's allegations are accurate or amount to a judicial finding against anyone named in them.

Trump is not a defendant in Phang's records-disclosure lawsuit. Sullivan's orders concern the department's duty to produce records, not the merits of the allegations documented in the FBI material.

The immediate questions are whether Blanche seeks appellate relief, whether the notes are published by the deadline, and whether the department meets the other filing dates. The answers will shape public access to the investigative record, while leaving the allegations unresolved.