After sharp criticism of the incomplete publication of files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the US Department of Justice has put at least 8,000 new documents online. Thousands of documents were available on the ministry’s website on Tuesday, including hundreds of video and audio recordings. According to a review by the AFP news agency, the published recordings include:Also files from the surveillance camera of the prison cell where Epstein was found dead in August 2019.
The ministry published around 11,000 links, some of which led nowhere.
The government of US President Donald Trump published thousands of photos, videos and texts from the Epstein investigation on Friday. However, despite a deadline set by Congress, the Justice Department released only a portion of the documents, sparking sharp criticism from the US Congress and Epstein victims. Numerous files had also been made illegible in advance, such as a completely blacked out, 119-page document from the New York justice system.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer introduced a motion on Monday calling for legal action against the Trump administration over the incomplete release of files. “Instead of ensuring transparency, the Trump administration only published a tiny fraction of the files,” criticized Schumer. This is a “blatant cover-up” and the Senate therefore has a duty to act.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche justified the delay by saying that any reference to the identities of the more than 1,000 Epstein victims would have to be removed from the hundreds of thousands of documents and photos in the government’s possession.
The files that have now been published contain information about Trump’s flights on Epstein’s plane. During one of these flights, only Trump, Epstein and a 20-year-old woman were reportedly on board. According to the Guardian, Trump broke his previous silence on the publication of the Epstein files and complained that the reputation of people who had “innocently met” the convicted pedophile could be ruined. He expressed sympathy for prominent Democrats like Bill Clinton, whose connections to Epstein are now being looked at more closely.
“I like Bill Clinton,” Trump said of the former president, who was featured prominently in the first photos. “I hate to see photos of him, but that’s what the Democrats — mostly Democrats and a few bad Republicans — want, so they’re releasing their photos of me too.”
Trump, who has long been associated with Epstein and has resisted the release of the files for most of the year, spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “Everyone was friends with this guy,” he claimed. “But no, I don’t like other people’s pictures being shown – I think it’s terrible.” Many people are “very angry” that images were published, Trump said.
