Among the files that have been released are documents such as receipts, to-do lists and letters.<\/p>\n
There are also photos that appear to be taken inside the “Lolita Express” \u2014 the nickname given to Epstein’s private jet \u2014 and the disgraced financier’s Manhattan townhouse.<\/p>\n
Just hours before their release, US Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department was still working to redact information to protect victims.<\/p>\n
He said “several hundred thousand” documents were being released today, and “several hundred thousand more” would come out “over the next couple of weeks”.<\/p>\n
Last month, Congress almost unanimously backed a bill<\/a> to force the release of files relating to the investigation and prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n It followed a years-long campaign by victims and others who believe powerful associates of Epstein have avoided exposure for their involvement in an alleged sex-trafficking ring.<\/p>\n The legislation to force the release of the files allows for the redaction of victims’ personal and medical details, as well as information that could jeopardise ongoing investigations or national security.<\/p>\n Ghislaine Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls and was convicted in 2021. (Supplied: US Attorney’s Office SDNY)<\/p>\n Material depicting abuse can also be withheld. But documents cannot be censored to prevent “embarrassment” or “reputational harm” to public figures.<\/p>\n “We are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce,” Mr Blanche told Fox News before the files were released.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Making sure that every victim \u2014 their name, their identity, their story, to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected.”<\/p>\n Democrats reacted angrily and threatened legal action if the deadline was not met.<\/p>\n Mr Trump recently called on the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats. The department agreed to this request, prompting concerns among campaigners the fresh investigation could be used as justification to withhold files.<\/p>\n The legislation to release the files was opposed by Mr Trump for months, who said its supporters were pushing a “hoax”. But he changed his position before Congress voted on the bill<\/a>, and it passed both houses almost unanimously<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Epstein was accused of running a vast sex-trafficking network, and some of his accusers say other offenders have dodged exposure. (AP: New York State Sex Offender Registry)<\/p>\n Mr Trump held a press briefing about drug prices ahead of the files’ release but, unusually, refused to take questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The US president was friends with Epstein for about 20 years. Flight logs show the president travelled on Epstein’s jet at least seven times in the 1990s.<\/p>\n In 2019, Mr Trump said he had a “falling out a long time ago with him” and added that he did not think he had spoken to Epstein in 15 years.<\/p>\n At that time, he would not say why. But in July, Mr Trump said they fell out because Epstein “stole” young women who were working at his Mar-a-Lago resort.<\/p>\n One of those women was Virginia Giuffre<\/a>, who died by suicide at her property in Western Australia in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you or anyone you know needs help:1800 Respect National Helpline<\/a>: 1800 737 732Men’s Referral Service<\/a>: 1300 766 491Lifeline<\/a> (24-hour crisis line): 13 11 14Full Stop Australia<\/a>: 1800 385 578Bravehearts<\/a>: counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800\u00a0272\u00a0831Fresh documents follow previous releases\u00a0<\/p>\n The latest release of documents will likely include many of the Epstein-related materials that have been made public in the past.<\/p>\n In February, the Justice Department released what it called the “first phase of declassified Epstein files” \u2014 but acknowledged most of them had already been made public.<\/p>\n They included an evidence list, flight logs, a contact book with the numbers redacted, and a “masseuse list” in which every name was blacked out.<\/p>\n Has Epstein ‘ripped MAGA apart’? Maybe not, but there will be fallout<\/a><\/p>\n In Trump’s America, it’s remarkable to see an almost-unanimous vote in Congress for a measure that the president had so actively resisted for so long.<\/p>\n Months later, US Attorney-General Pam Bondi said the remaining files were “never going to see the light of day”. “Child porn is what they were,” she said.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Democrats on Congress’s House Oversight Committee have also selectively released material gathered through their investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n They include several batches of photos<\/a>, including some featuring Mr Trump<\/a> (but not depicting wrongdoing). Video of Epstein’s private island<\/a>, and email conversations with several associates<\/a>, have also been made public by committee members.<\/p>\n Epstein died in jail in 2019, in what was ruled a suicide.<\/p>\n He was awaiting trial for creating a “vast network of underage victims” who he sexually abused almost daily, and using the girls he exploited to recruit more victims into an ever-expanding trafficking ring.<\/p>\n In 2021, Maxwell was convicted of helping him groom his victims. She was sentenced to 20 years’ prison the following year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration has published what appears to be the first tranche of the Epstein files; but the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[82167,196149,100795,143651,166808,43,5634,22524,44,41,39,42,40,3281],"class_list":["post-359143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-documents","tag-doj","tag-epstein","tag-epstein-files","tag-files","tag-headlines","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-justice-department","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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