DOJ Releases Thousands of Redacted Epstein Files

The Justice Department released thousands of documents and photos on Friday related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Many of the records were redacted, however, with the DOJ citing the privacy of victims and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying the agency would not meet Friday’s legal deadline to release all Epstein files.

The cascade of redacted records has raised more questions over the controversy that President Donald Trump attempted to evade for months before capitulating to pressure from within his own party and signing a bill in November to force the Justice Department to release its case files on Epstein.

Former President Bill Clinton appears to feature in the newly released images alongside Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and with other people whose faces were redacted including a photo with what appears to be a woman with her arm around the former president on a plane. “They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be,” Angel Ureña, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement posted on X Friday. The new batch of photos also depict Epstein with celebrities, including pop star Michael Jackson and musician Mick Jagger. 

Last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released photos from Epstein’s estate featuring high profile figures including Trump, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, director Woody Allen, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, and more.

In one released image, Trump appears to be seen with a group of women wearing leis whose faces were redacted, while another photo depicts a caricature of Trump’s face on novelty condoms with the text, “I’m HUUUUGE!”

The full context of the images are not currently clear and being pictured or named in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing. Blanche told Fox News the Justice Department would release more documents “over the next couple weeks” and that he expects “several hundred thousand more.”
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Several of Epstein’s victims criticized the Justice Department over its partial release of files on Friday. “They are proving everything we have been saying about corruption and delayed justice,” said Jess Michaels, a survivor of sexual assault by Epstein, per The New York Times. “What are they protecting? The coverup continues.”