WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi on Thursday launched authorities paperwork associated to rich financier Jeffrey Epstein, however the first wave of information posted on the Justice Division web site have largely been circulating within the public area for years and didn’t embrace any new bombshells about the sex trafficking case that has been a favorite subject of conspiracy theorists.
The small batch of paperwork included copies of flight logs from Epstein’s personal aircraft, which have lengthy been accessible in a number of court docket circumstances, and a closely redacted photocopy of an deal with ebook purportedly compiled by Epstein and his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, which has been cited in media accounts for a few years.
The Justice Division additionally launched a blacked-out record of masseuses and an proof record exhibiting entries for greater than 150 objects, together with nude pictures, therapeutic massage tables, intercourse toys and different objects. There wasn’t any indication whether or not the record was from Epstein’s case, Maxwell’s case or another investigation.
Bondi had teased the paperwork throughout a Fox Information look Wednesday, declaring, “Breaking information proper now: You’re going to see some Epstein data launched.” The Justice Division mentioned it was making the paperwork public to point out its dedication to transparency.
President Donald Trump, who was in workplace when Epstein was arrested in 2019, urged whereas campaigning final 12 months that he’d search to open up the federal government’s information.
However the rollout of the paperwork — which have been first given to political commentators on the White Home hours earlier in binders that learn “The Epstein Recordsdata: Part I” — confirmed the administration’s penchant for showmanship and choice for conservative influencers with massive social media followings.
The Justice Division didn’t submit them on its web site till hours later, together with a observe downplaying their significance. “The primary section of declassified information largely comprises paperwork which have been beforehand leaked however by no means launched in a proper capability by the U.S. Authorities,” the observe mentioned.
The paperwork are unlikely to fulfill on-line sleuths anticipating contemporary particulars about Epstein’s crimes and his connections to well-known folks, which have lengthy been the topic of intense media scrutiny. The dearth of latest data drew criticism even from some conservatives.
“GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on social media, calling the rollout a “full disappointment.”
Bondi urged in a Thursday letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that extra information have been lately found. She ordered the FBI at hand over “the complete and full Epstein information” to her by Friday morning, and directed Patel to “conduct a right away investigation” into why her order to the FBI to show over all paperwork was not adopted.
Patel vowed in a submit on X to make sure that all paperwork are offered to Justice Division management.
“If there are gaps, we are going to discover them. If information have been hidden, we are going to uncover them. And we are going to carry all the things we discover to the DOJ to be totally assessed and transparently disseminated to the American folks appropriately,” he mentioned.
President Donald Trump, who was in workplace when Epstein was arrested, urged whereas campaigning final 12 months that he’d search to open up the federal government’s information.
Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage ladies within the early 2000s, however wound up serving simply 13 months in jail. He was indicted on federal costs in New York in 2019, greater than a decade after he secretly struck a take care of federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of comparable costs of intercourse trafficking.
The case has drawn widespread consideration due to Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s hyperlinks to royals, presidents and billionaires. Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who as soon as owned the New York Day by day Information.
Through the years, hundreds of pages of information have been launched by way of lawsuits, Epstein’s felony dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Data Act requests. In January 2024, a court docket unsealed the ultimate batch of a trove of paperwork that had been collected as proof in a lawsuit filed by Epstein sufferer Virginia Giuffre.
A lot of the fabric, together with transcripts of sufferer interviews and previous police reviews, had already been publicly identified. They included mentions of Trump, former President Invoice Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew and magician David Copperfield, in addition to testimony from one sufferer who mentioned she met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Florida house however nothing untoward occurred with him.
The beforehand launched information included a 2016 deposition through which an accuser recounted spending a number of hours with Epstein at Trump’s Atlantic Metropolis on line casino however didn’t say if she really met Trump and didn’t accuse him of any wrongdoing. Trump has additionally mentioned that he as soon as thought Epstein was a “terrific man,” however that they later had a falling out.
In 2023, The Related Press obtained thousands of pages of records shedding gentle on the ultimate days of Epstein’s life at a now-shuttered federal jail in Manhattan. They included emails between jail officers, psychological evaluations, inner company reviews, memos and different information.
The Justice Division’s Inspector Normal later issued a report discovering {that a} “mixture of negligence, misconduct and outright job efficiency failures” by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and jail employees enabled Epstein to take his personal life in August 2019. The watchdog report discovered no proof of foul play.
_____ Sisak reported from New York.
