The Justice Department on Friday released a trove of documents related to multiple years of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the first of a series of disclosures that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said will continue on a rolling basis — contrary to the law Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed that mandates the full release of "all unclassified records" by Dec. 19.
While the full scope of the release may not be clear for days, it was already clear Friday that the Trump administration was initially deficient in another aspect of the Epstein Files Transparency Act: searchability. The law enacted on Nov. 19 requires the files to be made "publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format." The significantly redacted files released Friday, however, did not appear fully searchable, and many of the thousands of documents appeared to be among those already made public. The search function did improve later Friday evening.
A team of MS NOW reporters and editors reviewed the documents Friday evening. They include photos of Epstein with powerful people: a previously released framed picture of Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, posing alongside President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, as well as images of Epstein posing with people whose identities have been redacted, including some who appear to be young girls. Documents include lists of employees at Epstein's homes and notes from law enforcement interviews with victims. Former President Bill Clinton appears in several of the photos released Friday, alongside Epstein, Maxwell and redacted persons.
This is a preview of Clarissa-Jan Lim and Julianne McShane's latest article. Read the full article here.
