WASHINGTON: The U.S. Justice Department has begun releasing a long-awaited set of records from its investigations into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, although much of the material remained heavily redacted.
Among the trove released Friday were numerous photographs showing former Democratic President Bill Clinton and other luminaries, including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, in Epstein’s social circle.
Widespread blackouts of many of the documents, combined with strict control over disclosure by officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, have stoked skepticism about whether their release will silence conspiracy theories about a high-level cover-up.
In one example, a 119-page document titled “Grand Jury-NY” is completely redacted. Additionally, seven pages listing 254 massage therapists have all names buried under thick black bars next to the note, “redacted to protect the information of potential victims.”
Still, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier’s intimate ties to the rich, famous and powerful, including Trump, who was once a close friend.
At least one file contains dozens of censored images of nude or scantily clad figures. Others show Epstein and his companions, their faces obscured, posing with firearms.
Never-before-seen photographs include Maxwell with disgraced former Prince Andrew, pictured lying across the legs of five people.
Another photo shows a youthful-looking Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out.
In another, Clinton swims alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
A ‘fraction’ of the evidence
The White House wasted no time taking advantage of Clinton’s appearances.
“Slick Willy! @BillClinton just chilling, not a care in the world. Little did he know…” communications director Steven Cheung posted on X.
Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña responded to the newly released files by saying the country “expects answers, not scapegoats.”
“The White House has not been hiding these files for months just to get rid of them on a Friday night to protect Bill Clinton. This is about protecting themselves,” Ureña wrote in X.
Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, expressed frustration that the disclosure fell far short of what was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who has long pushed for its release, said it “manifestly fails to comply with either the spirit or the letter of the law.”
That law required the government’s entire case file to be released by Friday, limited only by legal and victim privacy concerns.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats “will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out.”
Trump spent months trying to block the release of files linked to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The Republican president finally bowed to mounting pressure from Congress – including members of his own party – and last month signed the law requiring the materials to be released by Friday.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged in a letter to Congress that Friday’s release was incomplete and that the Justice Department would complete production of the files in the coming weeks.
Prosecutors have discretion to withhold material linked to active investigations, and Blanche said the files had also been redacted to protect the identities of Epstein’s hundreds of victims.
‘Democratic hoax’
Trump once moved in the same Palm Beach and New York party scene as Epstein, appearing with him at events throughout the 1990s. He severed ties years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest and faces no allegations of wrongdoing in the case.
But his right-wing base has long been obsessed with the Epstein saga and conspiracy theories alleging the financier ran a sex trafficking ring for the global elite.
During the election campaign, Trump promised to make all the files public. However, after returning to office, he dismissed the transparency push as a “Democratic hoax.”
Trump’s Justice Department set off a political firestorm in July with a memo declaring that there would be no further disclosures about the Epstein investigation and that his fabled “client list” did not exist before the president bowed to pressure.
Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the former teacher and banker, whose death was ruled a suicide.
