Tracking the firings, resignations and other impacts from the Epstein files
By
Em Steck
,
Zachary B. Wolf
,
Amy O’Kruk
,
Koko Nakajima
, Isa Mudannayake and
Dejania Oliver
Feb 27, 2026





Epstein filesUK
See all topics








The US government’s release of its Epstein files has set off tremors among the world’s elite.

A former prince was stripped of his title and arrested. Ambassadors have been sacked and also arrested. One of America’s most prominent lawyers plans to resign; another stepped down as the head of a major New York law firm. At least one CEO resigned as a result of his long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted on Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution of a minor in a controversial 2008 plea deal.

Even after his conviction, Epstein maintained relationships with some of the world’s elite in business, government, academia and entertainment — until his arrest in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges.



Over the following years, some of his connections did face public blowback after their ties to Epstein were brought to light. But only one person — Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell — was convicted and went to prison for her role in the sex trafficking ring he was accused of running.


And President Donald Trump’s first US Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, resigned from his post in 2019 amid scrutiny over his role as a prosecutor who signed off on Epstein’s plea deal in 2008, which allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges and serve 13 months in prison for state prostitution charges over his involvement with underage girls.

Now a new reckoning has come in the form of some 3 million pages of documents released by the Justice Department under a law passed by Congress last year. The files include the results of numerous Epstein investigations, consisting of court documents, emails and text messages, along with countless unverified claims and allegations collected by the FBI over the years.

It’s not just associates who have been impacted. At least one person who doesn’t appear to be in the Epstein files has also faced fallout. The chief of staff to the UK prime minister resigned for his role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. Mandelson has since been arrested amid accusations that he passed along market-sensitive information to Epstein while he was business secretary in the UK government.

Others who cut ties with Epstein or didn’t associate with him after his 2008 conviction also have faced consequences. Casey Wasserman is selling his talent agency after the files revealed messages he exchanged with Maxwell, years before allegations against them were made public.


Being mentioned in the files is not an indicator of any wrongdoing. Nearly all of these people deny any wrongdoing (or have not responded to requests for comment) and now say they regret knowing Epstein.

Moreover, questions remain about the way the materials have been redacted, and what unreleased material may still exist.

CNN will continue to follow the fallout.


METHODOLOGY: CNN reviewed thousands of documents, photos and videos released by the DOJ on Jan. 30, 2026, in accordance with a law requiring all files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein be made public. We added the impacted individuals to this list by analyzing CNN’s own reporting on that latest release, all previous releases in 2025 from the House Oversight Committee, as well as CNN and other news outlets’ reporting going back to 2019 when Epstein was charged with running a sex-trafficking ring.

CNN listed the individual’s “first impact date” only, but some individuals may have had additional legal or professional impacts. This list is not exhaustive.

Photo credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, John Lamparski/Getty Images, Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images, Jaimi Joy/Reuters, Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, Chris Jackson/Getty Images, Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images, Chris J. Ratcliffe/Reuters, Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED25, Matt Dunham/AP, Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto/Getty Images, Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images, Carl Court/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images, Justice Department/Reuters, Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images, Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters, Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Fragrance Foundatio, Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images, William B. Plowman/NBC/Getty Images, Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit, Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty Images, David Dee Delgado/Getty Images for The New York Times, Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images, Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Hubert Burda Media, Dania Maxwell/Bloomberg/Getty Images, Tyler Kaufman/AP, Chris Carlson/AP, van Apfel/Getty Images for FIRST, Philip Kamrass/AP, Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times, Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize, Ian Gavan/Getty Images for amfAR, Yves Herman/Reuters