The US Justice Department has made some of its files on Jeffrey Epstein public after former President Donald Trump enacted the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
This significant move came into action on November 19, when Trump signed the legislation mandating the department to disclose all documents from the Epstein investigation. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, passed away in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial.
According to the legislation, the department had 30 days to release the documents, but they completed the task just before the deadline.
In the meantime, the House Oversight Committee continually pressed the department to release its files by sharing its own findings about Epstein, including photographs from his estate.
Just before some files were released on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche mentioned to Fox & Friends that they anticipated releasing ‘several hundred thousand pages’ that day, with more to follow in the upcoming weeks.
After having already shared 19 photos earlier in December, Rep. Robert Garcia, the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, stated: “We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”
Meanwhile, Trump has voiced his expectation that the document release will uncover ‘the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein’.
Following the signing of the legislation, he posted on Truth Social: “I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES. This latest Hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have!”
The Justice Department has been pressured to release ‘all the files’, but the law allows for the withholding of certain documents under specific conditions.
It can withhold documents that ‘would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, so long as such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary’. Additionally, it is permitted to protect details that might infringe upon victims’ privacy or contain sensitive information about child sexual abuse.
One survivor, Dani Bensky, shared with CNN that she and other survivors were unaware of the timeline for the file release, stating: “It’s a little bit tricky because we won’t see the files before they come. We don’t know what time they’re dropping on the 19th. We don’t know.”
Despite this, survivors have expressed optimism that the new information will help corroborate their personal experiences of abuse by Epstein. All those who spoke to CNN voiced their support for the release of the files, though they emphasized the importance of redacting information to protect victims.