The documents being released today stem from a Department of Justice/FBI investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, his alleged sex-trafficking crimes and his associates.
By virtue of Epstein’s high-profile and celebrity friends, it has long been suggested that the files might implicate well-known people, both in the United States and abroad.
The theory was particularly prominent among some of Donald Trump’s supporters, who speculated that Democrats such as former president Bill Clinton may be caught up. (Clinton was friends with Epstein but later cut ties, and says he knew nothing about the financier’s crimes.)
Ghislaine Maxwell (left) and Jeffrey Epstein with then-president Bill Clinton at the White House in 1993. Credit: The William J. Clinton Presidential LibraryÂ
Indeed, some of Trump’s fans fully embrace the QAnon conspiracy theory that the world is run by a secret network of paedophiles.
That’s why so many MAGA enthusiasts were outraged when Trump’s FBI and Department of Justice said in July that no more Epstein files would be released. Democrats theorised that Trump – who used to be good friends with Epstein – was trying to hide something, and insisted all the files should be made public.
Donald Trump with Epstein and an unnamed woman.Credit: @OversightDems/X
They found a groundswell of support among Republicans, many of whom have constituents who want the files to be released.
Last month – delayed by the US government shutdown – that drumbeat became irrepressible, and Trump authorised Republicans to vote for a bill to compel the files’ release. He signed the bill into law immediately.
The bill included a 30-day deadline for the Department of Justice to act. That deadline ends now.