Press Releases
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October 15, 2025
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for records involving any role Jeffrey Epstein might have played in connection with the agency, his business dealings, travel, victim or witness information, and records concerning his death (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Central Intelligence Agency (No. 1:25-cv-03618)).
Judicial Watch filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the CIA failed to respond to a July 9, 2025, FOIA request for:
- Intelligence activities and connections, including any records indicating whether Epstein was ever an asset for any U.S. or foreign intelligence agency and/or reports analyzing his potential connections to foreign intelligence services.
- Financial and business activities, including analyses concerning Epstein’s wealth accumulation, estimated at approximately $560 million at the time of his 2019 arrest.
- Associations and networks, including records documenting Epstein’s interactions with high-profile executives, royalty, or other prominent figures, where such interactions were of interest to the CIA due to national security concerns. Also, records about his so-called “Black Book” or contact lists, as well as his properties that may have been referenced in CIA reports.
- Criminal investigations and legal proceedings, including records about coordination with other federal agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), or U.S. Marshals Service, regarding Epstein’s criminal activities. Also, records about his death in 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
- Surveillance and evidence collection.
- Foreign connections and travel.
- Victim and witness information.
In May 2023, Epstein was reported to have met “dozens of times” with former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak between 2013-2017. Epstein reportedly donated $110,000 to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers wife’s online poetry project in 2016 and held meetings with many other high profile individuals “long after he was a registered sex offender. He had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi released a long-awaited trove of documents related to Epstein in February 2025, but “the much-hyped, roughly 200-page document dump provided no big revelations, instead listing celebrities and politicians who were already known to have palled around with the notorious pedophile.”
“America’s federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies need to obey the law and provide some basic information about Jeffrey Epstein,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Our FOIA lawsuits for records are an important step toward accountability.”
In April 2025, Judicial Watch filed a related lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice after it failed to adequately respond to four separate FOIA requests for records regarding Epstein, including any records on the identities of his clients or associates. In July, the Justice Department reported to the court that it and the FBI were continuing to search for and review responsive records. The Justice Department’s disclosure is at odds with the leaked, unsigned and undated Justice Department/FBI memo that suggests no more Epstein records would be disclosed to the American public. The memo was first disclosed late on July 6.
In July 2025, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for all interviews, conversations and other records provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by Epstein victim Virginia Louise Giuffre, who reportedly committed suicide on April 25, 2025.
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