A woman cited in documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice concerning Jeffrey Epstein, who alleges that former President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her, says she fears retaliation from the Trump administration amid growing controversy over how her case is being handled, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe Four in government records, is reportedly “staying off the grid,” a family member told The Guardian.
In four FBI interviews conducted in 2019, she said she was abused by the New York financier Jeffrey Epstein in the 1980s and later sexually assaulted by Donald Trump when she was between the ages of 13 and 15. The Justice Department released these interviews as part of a broader set of Epstein-related documents.
Following their release, the White House dismissed her claims as “completely baseless” and said they lacked any credible evidence.
Jane Doe Four is among the few alleged Epstein victims who have directly accused Trump, and the handling of her case files has become a focal point for other alleged victims, their supporters, and critics of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“It should not be Jane Doe Four’s responsibility to keep coming forward,” said Sky Roberts, the brother of deceased Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who has emerged as a leading advocate for victims, in an interview with The Guardian.
“She has already provided her testimony to the FBI; it is the Justice Department’s duty to act on that evidence and move the case forward,” he added.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Faces Pressure to Release Unredacted Epstein Files
Last week, a federal judge in Washington ordered Blanche to either release an unredacted version of the already‑published Justice Department files by July 2 or explain why he cannot do so.
“They really don’t want these documents released,” tweeted Brendan Ballou, a lawyer with the Public Integrity Project who is representing Phang.
Other alleged Epstein victims and their supporters are asking Blanche, who previously served as the president’s personal attorney, to explain why roughly 2.5 million additional records of uncertain relevance were labeled duplicative or legally protected.
Controversy Surrounds Handling of Jane Doe Four’s Case
The handling of Jane Doe Four’s case has sparked controversy since the Justice Department hurried to comply with a November 2025 congressional law mandating the release of all documents pertaining to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi informed the House Oversight Committee that Blanche oversaw compliance with the law, supervising a team of 500 reviewers and directing decisions on how the documents were processed.
Following the law’s enactment, the Justice Department posted more than three million documents online, inadvertently exposing victims’ names and publishing unredacted, compromising photographs.
A major document dump in January included the official FBI report of one of Jane Doe Four’s interviews, accompanied by a case number. She had contacted the FBI’s Epstein tip line after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, and the agency considered her allegations credible enough to warrant further investigation.
The FBI never filed formal charges against anyone based on Jane Doe Four’s allegations, and The Guardian notes there is no evidence the agency pursued any additional investigation after her August 2019 interview, which occurred during Trump’s first term.
Jane Doe Four subsequently ended her contact with the FBI after informing agents that she believed she was being surveilled.
