Jeffrey Epstein files latest: Trump administration criticized over partial and heavily redacted release | Jeffrey Epstein
Analysis: A drip-feed on a Friday signals a decision to bury ties to Trump
Sam Levine
The Justice Department’s partial release of the Epstein files on Friday showed how the agency is using various tactics to try to bury and obscure ties between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, writes Sam Levine.
The post highlights how the Trump administration is trying to balance both the demand for release of the files — something encouraged largely by the Maga base — while covering up the issue with a slow stream of dumped documents to avoid embarrassment to Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years before they fell out.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department will continue producing documents on a rolling basis in the coming weeks — a holiday period — a bet that Americans will simply ignore the story as it drags on.
Read Sam’s full analysis here:
Key events
Here are some of the photos released in the first tranche of records released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A number of famous faces are in attendance, including former US President Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, billionaire Richard Branson and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.
Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for Bill Clinton, said the investigation into Epstein did not concern the former president.
“There are two types of people here,” he said. “The first group knew nothing and interrupted Epstein before his crimes came to light. The second group continued their relationships after that. We are in the first. No amount of blocking attempts by members of the second group will change that.”
See more images at the link below:
Epstein abuse survivors condemn Justice Department for partial disclosure of records
Survivors of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse have expressed disappointment over a document that was heavily redacted and only partially released.
Epstein survivor Liz Stein told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that she believed the Ministry of Justice was “really going openly against the Epstein File Transparency Act” – the law which required all documents to be released by Friday.
She says survivors worry about the possibility of a “slow rollout of information that is incomplete and without any context.” The fight for justice has spanned decades, continents and political administrations, Stein says, adding: “We just want all the evidence of these crimes to be made public.”
Although disclosing documents comes at a “high cost” for victims, Stein hopes it will be a “path to justice.”
Lisa Phillips was in her 20s when she met the disgraced financier and says she suffered years of abuse from him and those close to him.
She told CNN she believed the Justice Department was “protecting itself, not the victims,” after Trump officials released only heavily redacted partial files.
“I feel like they have so much information to start connecting the dots and allowing survivors to get justice. But as you see, we’re just stagnating,” she added.
Jennifer Freemana lawyer who represents Epstein survivor Maria Farmer in her lawsuit against the federal government, told our colleague Victoria Bekiempis that a recently released document was important: a 1996 FBI report, documenting Farmer’s efforts to expose his abuses in Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Maria Farmer exposed the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 1996,” Freeman said. “If the government had done its job and properly investigated Maria’s report, more than 1,000 victims could have been spared and 30 years of trauma could have been avoided. »
Opening Summary
Good morning. We resume our live coverage of the Justice Department’s long-awaited release of documents from federal investigations into Jeffrey Epsteinthe late sex offender who socialized with Donald Trump for over 15 years.
The first cache of the “Epstein Files” was released Friday evening after months of delay and blocking by the Trump administration. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News he expected the department to release several hundred thousand additional files in the coming weeks.
However, significant portions of the records were heavily redacted. The photos lack crucial context, including dates and locations. Additionally, the Justice Department appears to have broken the law that required the release of all Epstein files by Friday’s deadline, according to the two members of Congress who drafted the legislation, Ro Khannaa California Democrat, and Thomas Massiéa Republican from Kentucky.
Missing documents and “over-redactions”:
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Khanna said the “partial filing of documents this afternoon is not in compliance” with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and told CNN, adding: “The most important documents are missing.” Those documents are a 60-count draft federal indictment outlining the charges against Epstein, and a detailed memorandum summarizing the evidence that was ignored by the U.S. Attorney. Alex Acostawho chose instead to offer Epstein an extraordinarily lenient plea deal.
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According to a Fox News report, the Justice Department redacted the victims’ names and identifiers and “the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials.” Massie wrote on social media that Attorney General Pam Bondi could be convicted by a future Justice Department of obstruction of justice if she violated a provision of the law by redacting the names of government officials. Massie noted that the law explicitly states that no document may be “withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational damage, or political sensitivity, including with respect to a government official.” White then called Fox News to insist that the Justice Department was “not redacting any politician’s names.”
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Instead, the Justice Department said it may have “exaggerated” the Epstein files in order to “protect victims.” Jay ClaytonThe U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in court Friday that he blacked out the faces of nearly all of the women photographed with Jeffrey Epstein, citing problems determining who the pedophile’s victim was. Mr. Clayton reportedly noted that the approach might be “over-drafting,” but blamed it on the 30-day deadline Congress set for releasing the documents.
Who is in the Epstein files?
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The visible files included footage of Epstein socializing with an array of prominent figures, including artists like Michael Jackson, Chris Tucker And Diane Ross, and the entrepreneur Richard Branson. The images also show the former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
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Peter Mandelsonwho was sacked as UK ambassador to the US earlier this year, can be seen in a photo with Epstein being given a giant birthday cake.
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There were many images of Bill Clintonbut very little about President Trump in the portion of the files released Friday. But a seemingly innocuous snapshot from Epstein’s library featured a reminder that he and Trump were once close. The image shows Epstein’s copy of Trump’s 1997 book, Trump: The art of returnwhich the New York Times reported in July included an inscription from Trump saying: “To Jeff – You are the greatest!” »
