THE United States Department of Justice has released a massive new tranche of investigative files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
At a news conference on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
He said the release means the department has met a legal requirement passed by Congress last year.
“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.
But the administration of President Donald Trump has faced scrutiny over the pacing of the files’ release and redactions within the published documents.
Trump himself has been confronted with questions about his past relationship with Epstein, who cultivated a roster of influential contacts.
On Friday, Blanche dismissed rumours that the Justice Department had sought to protect powerful individuals, including Trump.
While Trump has acknowledged a years-long friendship with the financier, he has denied any knowledge of the underage sex-trafficking ring that prosecutors say Epstein led.
“There’s this built-in assumption that somehow there’s this hidden tranche of information of men that we know about, that we’re covering up, or that we’re not, we’re choosing not to prosecute,” Blanche said. “That is not the case.”
The Justice Department had initially missed a December 19 deadline set by Congress to release all the files.
The publication is the result of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed in November with bipartisan support to force the release of all federal documents pertaining to Epstein.
In response to the law, the Justice Department said it had tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to determine what needs to be blacked out to protect the identities of sexual abuse victims.
Blanche said the department withheld any materials that could jeopardise ongoing investigations or expose potential victims.
All women in the Epstein files other than Ghislaine Maxwell — an ex-girlfriend who was also convicted of child sex trafficking — have been obscured from the videos and images being released on Friday, according to Blanche.
In the past, some of Epstein’s victims have slammed the department’s redactions and withholdings as excessive, with critics pointing out that previously published documents were among the files blacked out.
On Friday, several Democrats questioned what the Justice Department chose to withhold.
“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 Ro Khanna, a Democrat who co-sponsored the law requiring the release.
Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in Senate, called on officials to clearly say whether all documents related to Trump had been released.
“Yes or no? We need answers,” he said.
In December, the Justice Department released an initial batch of Epstein-related documents, though it fell short of the full publication mandated by November’s law.
That release, however, included previously unreleased flight logs showing that Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s. Those trips appeared to happen before Trump has said the pair had a falling out.
Earlier releases also contained images showing prominent individuals like tech billionaire Bill Gates, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, director Woody Allen and former US President Bill Clinton socialising with Epstein, sometimes on his private island.
Details were still emerging from the latest release. Early revelations include email exchanges with billionaire Elon Musk over a possible visit to Epstein’s island; a string of texts between Epstein and Bannon, at times referencing Trump in the lead-up to Epstein’s death; and investigative documents surrounding Epstein’s incarceration and death.
To date, none of the individuals depicted or referenced in the releases have been charged with any crimes, outside of Maxwell.