CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn crashed out of a World Cup downhill on Friday that was hazardous to her Olympic medal hopes though judged safe by race officials and team coaches.
Safe, it was agreed, at the place and exact time that Vonn lost control when landing a jump and spun into an awkward slide into the safety nets, injuring her left knee.
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United States' Jacqueline Wiles at the finish line during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Marte Monsen of Norway salutes on the stretcher that evacuates her after a crash in the finish area during the women's Downhill race at the Alpine Skiing FIS Ski World Cup, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Norway's Marte Monsen crashes during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn grimaces as she approaches the finish area after crashing, during an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
United States' Lindsey Vonn at the finish line after crashing, during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
“It was probably good light in the spot where she completely missed the line and did the mistake,” World Cup race director Peter Gerdol told The Associated Press.
Gerdol spoke after the late-afternoon meeting of race and team leaders to debrief the day and detail the next morning's schedule.
At the meeting in Crans-Montana — starting minutes after Vonn posted on social media her Olympic downhill dream next weekend was alive — a broad agreement was the race had been safe. Some objected to it being canceled at all.
About 25 minutes after Vonn crashed as the No. 6 starter, with the race still paused, Gerdol and the race jury called it off for safety reasons.
“I feel for those guys, they have a tough job,” United States head coach Paul Kristofic told the AP.
By 10:50 a.m. on an overcast day in the Swiss Alps, the light had dimmed since the 10 a.m. start and was forecast to get worse. It did.
The race maybe seemed unsafe because three of the six starters failed to finish, and even leader Jacqueline Wiles barely made a tight final turn that caused one crash.
Still, the Austria coach said his racer Nina Ortlieb’s exit as the first starter, at the same spot as Vonn, was caused by a poor racing line, not poor light.
Roland Assinger later told the AP that racing had been much safer than two weeks ago at Tarvisio, Italy, where the women went “110 kilometers an hour through the fog where you can see nothing.”
Assinger’s view echoed the view of Vonn’s teammate, Breezy Johnson, who was caught swearing on a television hot mic while chatting with racers in the warmup area when the cancellation news came.
World champion Johnson recalled the “(expletive) rain in Tarvisio” and added: “Then they are like ‘This is too bad a visibility.’ Like, what the ...” Johnson later apologized for her choice of words in a social media post.
Swiss TV commentator Patrice Morisod, who had chuckled on air hearing Johnson’s words live, later told the AP: “If we cancel such a race then we don’t have ski sport.”
What Gerdol and Morisod agreed on was disliking the tight turns into the finish line that sent Norwegian racer Marte Monsen into the fences and almost tricked Wiles.
“It’s not downhill,” Morisod said. “For me, that’s a big mistake for the FIS.”
Gerdol told the coaches meeting the course design will be reviewed ahead of the two-week world championships Crans-Montana will stage in one year’s time.
“In view of the championships next year we will definitely work on this,” the race director acknowledged.
The 2027 worlds seem far away when the Milan Cortina Olympics open next Friday, and the marquee women’s downhill is scheduled two days later.
Vonn faces a race to be fully fit for the Olympics she targeted in her remarkable comeback as the fastest 40-something in women’s ski race history.
She even might return on Saturday to start in a super-G on the same hill.
“The coach just said he left her on the start list,” Gerdol said, “because he thinks that it could be (possible). Some of the athletes always want to race, this is clear, it is their job.”
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States' Jacqueline Wiles at the finish line during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Marte Monsen of Norway salutes on the stretcher that evacuates her after a crash in the finish area during the women's Downhill race at the Alpine Skiing FIS Ski World Cup, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Norway's Marte Monsen crashes during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn grimaces as she approaches the finish area after crashing, during an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
United States' Lindsey Vonn at the finish line after crashing, during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with the rich and powerful.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.
Congressional Democrats, who have been key to pushing for the release of case files on Epstein, are arguing that Friday’s release is only about half of the files that have been collected.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted after months of public and political pressure, requires the government to open its files on the convicted sex offender as well as his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
Here's the latest:
At least one of the files appears to show personal information that was meant to be kept from the public.
It’s an email exchange that appears to be marked for redactions but leaves names and telephone numbers visible. The December 2019 emails captured officials discussing missing surveillance video from the New York jail where Epstein survived an apparent suicide attempt earlier that year.
During Trump’s first term, Epstein emailed Kathy Ruemmler, a lawyer and former Obama White House official, to warn that Democrats should stop demonizing Trump as a Mafia-type figure even as he derided the president as a “maniac.”
“you might want to tell your dem friends that treatin= trump like a mafia don , ignores the fact that he has great dangerous pow.r..” Epstein wrote in a typo-filled email. “tightening the noose too slowly, risks a very bad =ituation.. gambino was never the commander in chief.”
In a 2018 exchange, Epstein and Trump advisor Steve Bannon discussed the president’s threats to oust Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he had named to the post just the year prior.
“should have been done months ago too old!!!!” Epstein wrote.
“Can u get rid of Powell or really get rid of mnuchin,” Bannon replied, referring to then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
“no, mnuchin is ok,” Epstein replied.
Trump on Friday named Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell after spending the past year assailing him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough.
Others center around Ghislaine Maxwell’s incarceration and her grievances related to her imprisonment conditions.
The records contain emails between investigators that discuss Epstein’s death, including his last note — with the email stating that it does not appear to be a suicide note.
Thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein’s jail suicide have already been released.
The House Oversight Committee has also issued a separate subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi for the files without redactions, but that has not been fulfilled. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight panel, called the limited release of documents “outrageous and incredibly concerning.”
Congressional Democrats who have been key to pushing for the release of case files on Epstein are arguing that Friday’s release by the Department of Justice is only about half of the files that have been collected.
“The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions. This raises questions as to why the rest are being withheld,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who sponsored the bill that mandated the disclosure.
Khanna said he was looking to see whether the files released Friday included FBI interviews with victims, a draft indictment and information prosecutors collected during a 2007 investigation into Epstein in Florida.
The House Oversight Committee has also issued a separate subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi for the files without redactions, but that has not been fulfilled.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight panel, called the limited release of documents “outrageous and incredibly concerning.”
Over the years, prosecutors received tips from people with wild stories about being sexually abused by famous figures. In some instances, FBI investigators diligently reached out to these tipsters and alleged victims and listened to their implausible sounding stories — some involving the occult and human sacrifice — then wrote dry reports summarizing what the people had to say and sent them to their superiors.
Attorney Jay Clayton told New York federal court judges overseeing records in the sex trafficking cases against Epstein and Maxwell that some documents are being withheld temporarily while the government awaits further guidance from civil and criminal courts.
In a letter to the judges, Clayton says his office continues to engage with victims and their lawyers, including during a call Thursday. He said the Justice Department has invited victims to reach out if they believe anything has been published that should be redacted.
The huge cache of documents included email correspondence between prosecutors, printouts of thousands of emails that Epstein either sent or received, news clippings, and reports written by FBI agents summarizing their interviews with witnesses and alleged victims in the investigation.
As was the case with many previous releases of documents related to Epstein, much material was blacked out. Some of the reports on FBI interviews had entire pages blacked out, along with the name of the person who was being interviewed.
The deputy U.S. attorney general also responded to criticism about the Justice Department’s handling of the files’ release.
He said federal attorneys had to review all 6 million pages to ensure no victim information is released, and couldn’t do so within the 30-day timeline set by the law. He noted various exemptions under the law, but said no material was being withheld under a national security or foreign policy exemption.
“There’s not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we’re withholding,” he said about redactions in the files.
Justice Department lawyers made extensive redactions to the released files, including victim information that included their medical files.
They redacted images and videos, including removing any woman depicted in videos except for Ghislaine Maxwell.
Lawyers also withheld child sex abuse materials or anything depicting images of death, physical abuse or injury, as well as anything that would hurt an ongoing federal investigation, Blanche said.
Compiling accurate and thorough information takes time. A team of AP reporters is working to confirm information released by the Justice Department regarding Jeffrey Epstein.
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Blanche said that the release may not answer all the questions people have about Epstein or the handling of the allegations against him.
“There’s a hunger, or a thirst, for information that I don’t think will be satisfied by review of these documents,” he said.
“We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect — or not protect — anybody,” Blanche said.
Blanche called the review and release of Epstein files an “unprecedented effort” as he defended the Trump administration’s response to demands for their release.
“I take umbrage at the suggestion, which is totally false, that the attorney general or this department does not take child exploitation or sex trafficking seriously,” Blanche said. “We do.”
He said more than 6 million pages could potentially be released under the law, but that the department’s massive release does not include files that contain personally identifiable information of victims.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department, in releasing more than 3 million pages of Epstein files Friday, that federal lawyers gave up countless hours every single day to fulfill this “promise of transparency” to the American people.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meets with reporters as the Justice Department announces the release of three million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure in Washington, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An email that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, and shows a 2009 order of no contact in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meets with reporters as the Justice Department announces the release of three million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure in Washington, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An email that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, and shows the cell where Epstein was found unresponsive. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
FILE - Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche listens to President Donald Trump speak in the State Dining Room at the White House, Oct. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
