Epstein Files: Will There Be Justice?
On Jan. 30, over 3 million pages of files related to the investigation into the Epstein case were released by the Department of Justice. These files included over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. Trump is named over 1,800 times alongside mention of other powerful figures including Elon Musk and Bill Clinton.
Most notably, the files also contain newly disclosed information describing the nature of victim interactions with Trump and a list of sexual assault claims against him, though all remain unverified. The list of claims were compiled by FBI officials last year, many of which came from unverified tips through the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center. Trump has long denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and involvement with Epstein. Additionally, the files include unverified allegations against former President Bill Clinton, who has also denied any wrongdoings related to Epstein.
Alongside the files, the FBI dropped dozens of key memos called “302s.” These memos contain notes by the FBI about information in the files, though none describe particular attempts to authenticate any information sent in by the public. A memo regarding the list of allegations states that in several cases no contact with the individuals who sent in the allegations was made, or no contact information was left. It is important to note that some of the 302s released have been completely redacted.
After being asked for a comment on the allegations against Trump found in the released documents, the White House referred a reporter to a press release from the Department of Justice that states, “This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
During a press conference at the Department of Justice on Jan. 30, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche the White House had “no oversight” of the review of the documents before their release.
“Let me just be clear - they had nothing to do with this review,” he said. “They had no oversight over this review. They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what not to redact.”
Issues With The Files
A review of the newly released documents by NPR has found numerous instances in which the Justice Department failed to follow what The Epstein Files Transparency Act directs in terms of redactions. This includes the failure to redact names of both publicly known victims and the names of victims who have not been previously released.
When announcing the release of the final batch of files, Blanche mentioned the redaction of faces in images and video footage.
“In addition to the documentary redactions, which includes personal identifying information, victim information and other privileges, there is extensive redaction to images and videos to protect victims,” he said. “We redacted every woman depicted in any image of video, with the exception of Ms. Maxwell. We did not redact images of any men unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man.”
Several examples that directly contradict this statement and show women’s faces can be found throughout the files.
Another issue with the documents is how they were released, the files aren't shared in chronological order, nor do they seem to be organized or grouped in any particular way. Furthermore, there are countless duplicates of email threads and other documents, many of which have different redactions applied to each version.
In a letter signed by Blanche, it is reported that approximately 200,000 documents have been “redacted or withheld based on various privileges.” These several documents could not be produced due to either technical issues with their uploading for review or content being in a foreign language.
Only 3.5 million documents have been released out of the more than 6 million pages the Department of Justice has said they’ve collected. During the Jan. 30 press conference, Blanche stated that the rest of the documents will not be released. These documents are being withheld for a multitude of reasons, including containing sensitive information about the identification of victims, depictions of violence, duplicate documents, and non-relation to Epstein.
A group of Epstein’s victims released a statement in response, blasting the Justice Department for the “incomplete” release.
“This latest release of Jeffery Epstein files is being sold as transparency, but what it actually does is expose survivors,” the group explained in their statement.
“The Justice Department cannot claim it is finished releasing files until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed,” the statement says. “We need to hear directly from Attorney General Pam Bondi when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee on February 11. Survivors deserve answers, and the public deserves the truth.”
Will There Be Justice?
As mandated by The Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Justice Department will submit a formal report to Congress 15 days after the files release. This report will contain a summary of all redactions made and a list of all “government officials and politically exposed persons.”
Though, while speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Feb. 1, Blanche said the possibility of new charges against anyone is unlikely.
“I can’t talk about any investigations, but I will say the following, which is that in July, the Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the ‘Epstein files,’ and there was nothing in there that allowed us to prosecute anybody,” he said. “We then released over 3.5 million pieces of paper, which the entire world can look at now and see if we got it wrong.”
