US Justice Department releases more Epstein documents
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The US Justice Department has 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.
The department had said at year’s end that it still had more than five million pages to review and needed to re-assign hundreds of lawyers to do so, drawing criticism from some members of Congress that the administration of US President Donald Trump’s slow pace had violated a law passed in November that required the department to release all Epstein-related records by December 19, 2025.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference on Friday the department was releasing more than three million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2000 videos and 180,000 images.
He said Friday’s batch of files marked the end of the administration’s planned releases under the law.
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.
They were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” Blanche said at a news conference announcing the disclosure.
After missing a December 19 deadline set by Congress to release all of the files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to determine what needs to be redacted, or blacked out, to protect the identities of victims of sexual abuse.
Among the materials being withheld is information that could jeopardise any ongoing investigation or expose the identities of personal details about potential victims.
All women other than Maxwell have been redacted from videos and images being released Friday, Blanche said.
The number of documents subject to review has ballooned to roughly six million, including duplicates, the department said.
Epstein, a New York financier, was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
While New York City’s medical examiner called the death a suicide, it has engendered years of conspiracy theories.
with AP
Reuters
