Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in a New York prison cell in 2019, had links to powerful people including now-President Donald Trump and former US leader Bill Clinton
Jeffrey Epstein was a prolific child sex trafficker (Image: AP)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced it uncovered one million documents potentially related to late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and revealed when they would be made public.
In a post shared on X/Twitter, a DOJ spokesperson said it received documents from the US attorney for the Southern District of New York as well as the FBI. The announcement heaps further embarrassment on the White House, which was legally bound to release all files related to Epstein by December 19.
“The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have informed the Department of Justice that they have uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case,” the DOJ said. “The DOJ has received these documents from SDNY and the FBI to review them for release, in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, existing statutes, and judicial orders.
The DOJ said there are up to one million more documents connected to the Epstein files (Image: AP)READ MORE: Jeffrey Epstein ‘afraid to go back to his cell’ in days before he was found deadREAD MORE: Five signs ‘The Invisible Man’ in Epstein files is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible. Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks. The Department will continue to fully comply with federal law and President Trump’s direction to release the files.”
Significant redactions were made to many documents that have already been released, sparking swift criticism from lawmakers as well as the US public. Republican and Democrat congressmen have since accused the DOJ of hiding new evidence to protect President Donald Trump or powerful people named in the documents.
Republican Representative for Kentucky Thomas Massie said on X/Twitter: “Today the DOJ claims the Epstein-Maxwell file exceeds 1.7 million documents. And they still expect you to believe this involves only two guilty people.”
Epstein abused many victims with accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s help(Image: Pixel8000)
Democrat Representative for California Ro Khanna, who co-sponsored a bill with Massie to release the documents said following the DOJ’s turn from claiming there were no files. “‘There are no more files, case closed,'” he said.
“Six months later after @RepThomasMassie & my Epstein Transparency Act. ‘There are a million files.'”
The Trump administration has also come under criticism over how it has handled the release of the documents, including not offering reasons for why certain redactions were made. Documents also named a victim, who did not want to be made public and included files of seemingly fake videos and notes, without any information stating whether they were genuine or note.
DOJ officials have also appeared to take a bipartisan approach to documents, amplifying photos of former Democrat Bill Clinton – who has strongly denied any wrongdoing and has since urged for files to be released in full – and strongly coming down and responding to accounts over an apparent fake letter sent from Epstein to paedophile and physician Larry Nassar.