DOJ Publishes Then Removes Document Containing Unverified Allegations Against Trump

In a controversial development in late January 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice briefly published and subsequently removed a document containing serious allegations against former President Donald Trump. The document, part of a larger release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, contained claims that Trump hosted “calendar girl” parties at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.

The allegations, which quickly circulated across social media platforms including X, Facebook, and Reddit, claimed that Epstein would bring children to these events where they would be “auctioned off” and Trump would allegedly “measure their genitalia.” The document’s sudden removal from the DOJ website fueled speculation about potential censorship attempts.

Snopes has verified that the DOJ did indeed publish and then remove this document from its website on January 30, 2026. According to archived versions of the department’s webpage, the document appeared as part of a broader release of Epstein-related files but was taken down later the same day.

When questioned about the removal, the DOJ directed inquiries to a general statement about the Epstein files that did not specifically address the document’s removal. The department has not provided an explanation for why the document was withdrawn or how long it remained publicly accessible.

The allegations themselves originated from an anonymous message sent to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center (NTOC), a department responsible for receiving tips and complaints from the public. The document revealed email exchanges between FBI personnel discussing these tips.

Crucially, the message containing these allegations lacked contact information for the person who submitted it, meaning the FBI was unable to follow up or investigate the accusations. The claims within the document were highlighted in yellow due to their sensitive nature, according to the NTOC employee involved in the email exchange.

The allegations named several prominent individuals as supposedly being present at these events, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Trump’s children (Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric), attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Bob Shapiro, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

The White House has firmly rejected these claims, referring to them as “unfounded and false” in an official statement. The statement suggested that if the allegations had any credibility, they “certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”

Attorney Bob Shapiro explicitly denied the allegations, calling them “total nonsense” and stating he had only visited Mar-a-Lago once for Ivana Trump’s wedding years ago. Shapiro clarified that aside from Dershowitz, he had never met any of the other individuals named in the document.

The timing of the allegations has raised questions, as the White House pointed out they were submitted to the FBI shortly before the 2020 presidential election. This context is significant when evaluating the credibility of such serious claims.

Media and political analysts note that the publication and subsequent removal of such inflammatory allegations by a government agency raises important questions about information management and transparency in sensitive cases involving public figures.

This incident occurs against the backdrop of continued public interest in Epstein’s associations with powerful individuals and ongoing investigations into his criminal network, even years after his death in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.