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The US Justice Department has released an initial tranche of documents related to dead paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 for sex trafficking and was found dead in his jail cell in August of that year, with authorities later determining that he hanged himself. Since his death, there has been a campaign for the full publication of all documents and photos and to reveal high profile names he associated with.
The material released includes photos, videos and investigative documents, and came following Congress passing a law mandating the files be released in their entirety by Friday (December 19). They were made public shortly after 9pm UK time last night, just hours before the legal deadline brought about by the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Commentators across the political spectrum have now accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of violating its legal obligations after it said it would not be able to release all the documents by the deadline.
Likewise, Republicans and Democrats alike have protested the heavy redactions that rendered entire passages blank. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “simply releasing a mountain of blacked out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law”, while Democrat Representative Ro Khanna – who co-authored the bill that forced the publication of the files – said the release “was an incomplete release with too many redactions,” per BBC News.
The DOJ website, where the files are available to view, said: “In view of the Congressional deadline, all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure.”
The photos are also undated and presented without context. A number of famous faces are included in this batch of files, including former US President Bill Clinton, and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. Being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing, and several figures identified in the files and in previous releases related to Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein was infamous for his connections across entertainment, politics and business, and the context of images where he is seen alongside artists like Jackson, Jagger and Diana Ross are unclear, as is his level of association with those pictured. Jagger, Ross and Jackson’s estate are yet to speak out on the images.
One image of Jackson shows him stood with Bill Clinton and Ross, who pose together next to multiple other faces who are redacted from the image. Another shows The Rolling Stones singer posing for a photo with Clinton and a woman whose face is redacted.
Clinton has previously denied knowledge of Epstein’s sex offending and a spokesperson on Friday said they were decades-old photos: “This isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be,” the spokesperson said, via BBC News.
Several photos include the actor Chris Tucker, with one showing him seated next to Clinton at a dining table, and another showing him on aeroplane tarmac with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of Epstein.
Maxwell, Epstein’s partner, was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021, as well as other similar charges for procuring underaged girls for Epstein. She was sentenced in June 2022 to 20 years imprisonment, and has maintained her innocence throughout.
Survivors of the Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse have expressed disappointment over the release of the files, with Haley Robson telling The Independent: “I knew going into this and just how Trump likes to play his little tactics. I knew with all the obstacles we’ve already rendered and the administration’s flip flop, I already knew that we were not going to see the files as we should be getting them.”
