An investigative reporter who covered Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes has called out the Department of Justice after discovering her flight details from the day he was arrested appear in the Epstein files.
Journalist Julie K. Brown has been credited with reactivating the investigation into Epstein’s abuse of young women when the Miami Herald published her interviews with victims in November 2018, headlined “Perversion of Justice.”
Brown spoke to around 80 alleged victims of Epstein, with her work leading to a George Polk Award in the category of Justice Reporting.
On Sunday, Brown posted a redacted document detailing flights she took on July 6, 2019, during Trump’s first administration.
That same day, Epstein was arrested by federal agents. He was charged in the Southern District Court of New York with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
“Does somebody at the DOJ want to tell me why my American Airlines booking information and flights in July 2019 are part of the Epstein files (attached to a grand jury subpoena)?” Brown posted on X.
“As the flight itinerary includes my maiden name (and I did book this flight) why was the DOJ monitoring me?”
Does somebody at the DOJ want to tell me why my American Airlines booking information and flights in July 2019 are part of the Epstein files (attached to a grand jury subpoena)? As the flight itinerary includes my maiden name (and I did book this flight) why was the DOJ… pic.twitter.com/m1mgP6pdgk
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) December 28, 2025
On her Substack, Brown noted that while she expected her name to appear in the Epstein files due to her extensive reporting on his crimes in South Florida, she was shocked to see her travel itinerary included in the released documents.
The Daily Beast has contacted Brown, the White House and the Department of Justice for comment.
“The Department of Justice needs to explain why travel information and booking itineraries for a journalist are in the Epstein files,” The Oversight Dems X account posted in response to the revelation.
Epstein pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 in June 2008, following a criminal investigation into the well-connected financier which began in March 2005.
He was released in July, 2009, after serving less than 13 months and being allowed to leave for work at his newly formed Florida Science Foundation for 12 hours a day at the minimum security facility where was incarcerated.
Brown’s reporting in 2018 helped to reopen the FBI investigation into Epstein, which led to his arrest. He died in a New York jail on August 10, 2019.
The bipartisan Epstein Transparency Act, which President Trump, signed into law last month, has been drip-feeding a slew of documents related to the late sex offender.
The Justice Department missed a Dec. 19 deadline to release all documents in the files. Since then, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and California Democrat Ro Khanna—who led the push for the release of the files—announced plans to take legal action targeting Attorney General Pam Bondi.
On Christmas Eve, the DOJ claimed it had “over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case” from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. However, it did not provide a release date for the freshly-unearthed material.
The Justice Department said it was working “around the clock” to review the new files before making redactions to protect the victims.
“We will release the documents as soon as possible,” it said in an X post. “Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks.”
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