Despite recent claims by President Donald Trump that former Biden officials doctored files related to Jeffrey Epstein, many of the documents -- including those mentioning Trump and several prominent Democrats -- have been public for years.

How did the case start in Palm Beach County? Did Trump know him then? Why is it an endless source of fascination?

Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier's longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Trump has denied being on the plane.

In 2004, future President Donald Trump outbid Jeffrey Epstein in a bankruptcy auction for an oceanfront estate in.

Trump and Epstein first became acquainted with one another in the 1980s – the same decade Trump purchased his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The post ‘Terrific Guy’: What We Know So Far About Trump’s History With Epstein,

Polk County's three Republican U.S. House members voted against a maneuver to amend a bill and add a provision about releasing the Epstein files.

From Jeffrey Epstein's 2005 case to his death in a New York jail cell in 2019, the crazy twists and turns in his bizarre sex crimes case in Florida.

Trump has tried to damp down speculation, fanned mainly by Democrats, that the withheld files contain evidence of a deep connection between Trump and Epstein. Trump has reacted with outrage and disdain, even at members of his political base who have pressed for the files to be released.