Trump administration begins releasing long-awaited Epstein files
The US justice department has begun releasing the long-awaited “Epstein files”, after months of political wrangling, a popular furor and repeated attempts to deflect scrutiny over Donald Trump’s links to the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The release comes after deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said that the justice department would release “several hundred thousand documents” from the Epstein files on Friday but hinted that some may be held back – at least temporarily – citing the need to protect victims.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he added.
House Democrats, led by Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin, condemned the Trump administration’s delay to release all of the Epstein files as a violation of federal law and vowed to pursue legal options.
The scandal has dominated Washington for months, dogging the US president since his return to the White House for a second term, splintering his conservative base and spurring accusations of an attempted “cover-up” from across the political spectrum.
Some of the most sought-after material will pertain to the president’s relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019. Trump and Epstein were close friends for years before falling out.
Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing. But concerns have been raised about how, why and when his relationship with Epstein broke down, and how much Trump knew about Epstein’s conduct. Trump and his allies have denied that he knew about Epstein’s conduct, and no evidence has suggested that he took part in Epstein’s trafficking operation.
A projection on to a building near the White House demanding that Trump release the Epstein files. Photograph: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 16.09 EST
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Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche has said that more than 1,200 victims and their families were found during the review of the documents, according to a letter to Congress obtained by Fox News, and that the justice department had redacted or withheld any materials that could reveal their identities.
In the letter, Blanche said:
This process resulted in over 1,200 names being identified as victims or their relatives. We have redacted reference to such names. In addition to redacting the names of these victims, we have also redacted and are not producing any materials that could result in their identification.
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Updated at 16.48 EST
On initial review, there are a striking number of photos featuring former president Bill Clinton.
The former US president can be seen in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell in one photo, and in a hot tub with a person whose face is redacted in another.
A reminder that there is no suggestion of wrongdoing and Clinton has previously condemned Epstein and denied knowing anything of his conduct.
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Updated at 16.49 EST
White House says release demonstrates Trump administration’s transparency
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson has this statement on the release, calling the Trump administration “the most transparent in history”.
The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history. By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have. And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. The American people deserve answers.
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Updated at 16.37 EST
There are a vast number of photos of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and others on trips in locations including Bali, Indonesia; Morocco and St Tropez, France.
As our reporters and editors comb through the files, many of the images are heavily redacted, in line with a requirement under the the Epstein Files Transparency Act to redact information that identified potential victims of Epstein or contained child sexual-abuse material. Under the law the justice department was also permitted to withhold material involved in active investigations.
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Updated at 16.27 EST
The material is sorted into four categories: court records, disclosures the justice department said it made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and material released in response to freedom of information requests; and the records it released in September to the House oversight committee.
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Updated at 16.19 EST
DOJ says reasonable efforts taken to protect victims
The justice department has included this privacy notice on the website housing the documents, which it calls the “full Epstein library”:
In view of the Congressional deadline, all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure. That said, because of the volume of information involved, this website may nevertheless contain information that inadvertently includes non-public personally identifiable information or other sensitive content, to include matters of a sexual nature.
It also carries this warning:
Some of the library’s contents include descriptions of sexual assault. As such, please be advised that certain portions of this library may not be appropriate for all readers.
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Updated at 16.34 EST
The release of the files is broken up into four data sets, which we are now reviewing. You can find them here, here, here and here.
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Trump administration begins releasing long-awaited Epstein files
The US justice department has begun releasing the long-awaited “Epstein files”, after months of political wrangling, a popular furor and repeated attempts to deflect scrutiny over Donald Trump’s links to the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The release comes after deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said that the justice department would release “several hundred thousand documents” from the Epstein files on Friday but hinted that some may be held back – at least temporarily – citing the need to protect victims.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he added.
House Democrats, led by Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin, condemned the Trump administration’s delay to release all of the Epstein files as a violation of federal law and vowed to pursue legal options.
The scandal has dominated Washington for months, dogging the US president since his return to the White House for a second term, splintering his conservative base and spurring accusations of an attempted “cover-up” from across the political spectrum.
Some of the most sought-after material will pertain to the president’s relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019. Trump and Epstein were close friends for years before falling out.
Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing. But concerns have been raised about how, why and when his relationship with Epstein broke down, and how much Trump knew about Epstein’s conduct. Trump and his allies have denied that he knew about Epstein’s conduct, and no evidence has suggested that he took part in Epstein’s trafficking operation.
A projection on to a building near the White House demanding that Trump release the Epstein files. Photograph: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 16.09 EST
