The Department of Justice dropped a massive batch of documents on Friday related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While a good chunk of the files is redacted, the unedited parts included snapshots of Epstein chilling with Bill Clinton and former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, along with celebrities like Michael Jackson, Chris Tucker, and Kevin Spacey.
Epstein’s case has been a hot topic for years, sparking a wave of conspiracy theories, mainly because of his ties to influential and wealthy figures, both in the U.S. and abroad, including Trump.
These documents hit the public eye after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which demands the Justice Department to release all “unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” relating to Epstein’s investigation and prosecution. Epstein passed away in jail back in 2019 while he was waiting for trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving minors.
The law also insists the Justice Department publish any materials linked to Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for helping Epstein with the sex trafficking of underage girls and ended up with a 20-year prison sentence.
Abigail Jackson, the White House deputy press secretary, stated that the release of these documents shows that “the Trump administration is the most transparent in history,” adding that the administration “has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have” by cooperating with Congress’s investigation and releasing the files.
Trump, who had the power as president to make these documents public, was against it, calling concerns about his connections to Epstein a “Democrat hoax.” However, as the House of Representatives was close to passing the bill in November, he suddenly flipped his stance, encouraging Republican lawmakers to get on board. The Senate later passed it unanimously, and Trump signed it into law on November 19, kicking off a 30-day countdown for the documents to be released.
Even with the law pushing for the release of unclassified material, it might not deliver the full transparency that many Epstein victims are demanding. There are significant exemptions, including a clause that protects materials “that would jeopardize an active federal investigation” from being published.
Additionally, the legislation specifies that “no later than 15 days” after the materials are released, the justice department has to give Congress a rundown of all record categories released and withheld, a summary of any redactions, and a list of “all government officials and politically exposed individuals named or referenced in the published materials.”
