‘Why was the DOJ monitoring me?’: Twist as Epstein files point to Trump admin snooping on key Jeffrey Epstein reporter

The Trump administration likely breathed a sigh of relief when it finally released “the Epstein files”. With the heavy redactions complete and it looking like a very bad news day for Bill Clinton, they could sweep the whole messy affair under the rug and move on.

Then it all started to fall apart. First came the incredibly dumb revelation that someone had screwed up the redactions, meaning you could read the blacked-out text simply by highlighting it. Oops.

Now comes a disturbing revelation about what the Department of Justice may have been up to around the time of Jeffrey Epstein’s death under the first Trump administration. At this time, Miami Herald investigative journalist Julie K. Brown was working hard to expose Epstein’s crimes, which eventually resulted in the 2020 book Perversion of Justice.

So, why were her July 2019 flight details just published as part of the Epstein files, indicating that the Department of Justice was tracking and monitoring her movements?

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

Brown also called this out on Substack, saying she’d predicted her work against Epstein would see her mentioned in the files, but:

“What I didn’t expect to see was an American Airlines flight record from 2019 with my full name on them, including my maiden name, which I don’t use professionally. It’s an unusual name, so it’s clear it’s me.”

We need answers!

An explanation is due, with the official Oversight Dems account already pushing for just that:

The Department of Justice needs to explain why travel information and booking itineraries for a journalist are in the Epstein files. https://t.co/Y39oD9Xolb

— Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) December 28, 2025

It is unclear as to why this was in the Epstein files. Was it provided to Epstein’s team by Trump’s Department of Justice so they could keep track of her location for nefarious reasons? Was the DOJ trying to uncover Brown’s sources related to Epstein (and potentially provide them to Epstein himself so he could get retribution?

Someone out there knows the answers to these questions, and we’d bet they’re lying very low right now. Many said there was no smoking gun against Trump in the Epstein files, but maybe we were looking in the wrong place all along?