Thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of photos and videos, a very long telephone directory of almost 100 pages and above all the censored names of 1,200 young women abused by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. A few hours before the deadline set by the US Congress in November, the Justice Department published on its website the files on the case of the pedophile financier who committed suicide in prison in 2019.
A “comprehensive library on Epstein”
This is how the dedicated page was called, where the papers are divided into various categories: judicial documents on criminal and civil cases; documents disclosed pursuant to law passed by Congress and signed by Donald Trump; the material released following requests for access to public documents and documents from the House oversight commission. An enormous amount of material which, at first glance, also confirmed by the words of the US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, appears heavily censored. “In addition to redacting the names of the victims, we have also censored and are not disclosing any material that could allow their identification,” Pam Bondi’s deputy wrote in a note to the American media.
Among the files there are also hundreds of photos, many never seen before
Shots of Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell on holiday, many with Bill Clinton, one with Michael Jackson and another with Richard Branson. The media notes that the images were published without any context and are therefore difficult to interpret. The former Democratic president, in particular, appears in a photo shirtless in a hot tub together with a person with his face covered. In other photos Clinton is immortalized while swimming in the pool next to Maxwell: there is also another person with his face obscured.
Some images are of homes but it is not clear which ones are from the former finance house.
The elite of entertainment in the 95 pages of telephone directory
Among the papers there are also thousands of documents and some censored telephone recordings, which however do not make it clear who is talking to whom. It is also difficult to search by name, since most of the documents are PDFs. In the 95 pages of telephone directory there are the names of thousands of personalities from the elite of entertainment, finance and entrepreneurship: from the well-known Dukes of York to Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, Henry Kissinger and even some Italians, including, as has already emerged in recent years, Flavio Briatore and Giuseppe Cripriani as well as the contacts of hotels and restaurants. There is also the ‘Masseuse List’, a list with 254 ‘masseuses’ whose names have however been censored.
For the White House, the disclosure of the files demonstrates the transparency of Trump’s administration
“He is the most transparent president in history,” wrote spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “By releasing thousands of pages of documents he has done more for victims than Democrats have ever done,” he added. Blanche also stated that “further relevant documents will be released as the investigation continues in accordance with the law and with the protection of victims.” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who helped lead the campaign to get the documents released, warned that if the Justice Department does not adequately demonstrate compliance with the law that mandated the disclosure, Congress could begin impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche. The publication, he said, “was disappointing, at least on first reading. and was not transparent,” Khanna said.