The Department of Justice began publishing more than three million documents, approximately 180,000 images and about 2,000 videos from the Jeffrey Epstein files, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. Blanche insisted the White House did not direct the department's review or redactions and denied that the release was intended to protect President Trump. The department redacted images of girls and women except for pictures of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence. Officials cautioned the disclosures may not yield new prosecutions or satisfy public demand for answers.
DOJ Publishes Millions of Epstein Files — 3M+ Documents, 180K Images, 2K Videos
Pictures included in the Epstein files include many aboard the former financier's private jet, with potential victims' faces blacked out (-)(-/House Oversight Democrats/AFP)
The US Department of Justice on Friday began releasing more than three million documents, roughly 180,000 images and about 2,000 video files from its files on Jeffrey Epstein, intensifying public scrutiny of a long-running, politically charged case that has implicated prominent figures.
Department Says White House Did Not Intervene
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the White House had no role in the Justice Department's review or redaction decisions. "They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact," Blanche told reporters, rejecting suggestions that the department had altered the release to protect any particular individual.
"We did not protect President Trump. We didn't protect or not protect anybody," Blanche said.
Scope, Redactions And Victim Protections
The release follows the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), which required the department to publish its holdings by December 19. Blanche said the timing was affected by painstaking redaction work designed to protect the identities of more than 1,000 alleged victims.
Blanche said images of girls and women were redacted except for images of Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of trafficking underage girls for Epstein and is serving a 20-year sentence. He added that images of men were not redacted unless necessary to avoid identifying a woman.
What The Files Contain And What They May Not Deliver
Earlier Justice Department disclosures have shown Epstein's ties to business leaders, celebrities, academics and politicians, including former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Blanche noted some released documents contain what he called "untrue and sensationalist claims" submitted to the FBI before the 2020 election.
Only one person connected to Epstein — Ghislaine Maxwell — has been charged and convicted. Blanche tempered expectations that the newly released materials will produce additional prosecutions: "If we had information — we meaning the Department of Justice — about men who abused women, we would prosecute them," he said, but he cautioned the public may not find prosecutable new evidence in the files.
Political Fallout And Public Reaction
The disclosures have fueled political debate: a Republican-led House committee recently moved to pursue contempt proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton after they declined to testify in its probe. Former social ties between Epstein and Mr. Trump in Florida and New York have also attracted attention; Trump has criticized the releases, saying people who "innocently met" Epstein risk reputational harm.
Blanche acknowledged that releasing the materials would not end public curiosity or conspiracy theories. "There's a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents and there's nothing I can do about that," he said.
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