The Trump administration’s release of just some of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein was criticised as failing to “comply with law”.
The tranche of material relating to the dead paedophile financier was made public by the US justice department shortly after 9pm UK time on Friday – hours before a legal deadline in the US following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said in a letter to Congress that the department was continuing to review the remaining files and was withholding some documents under exemptions meant to protect victims.
More than 1,200 victims and their families were identified during a review of the records, which have been redacted to protect victims, Mr Blanche said.
He said additional disclosures can be expected by the end of the year.
But the decision not to release all the files by Friday’s deadline has been criticised by politicians, who said the Trump administration had failed to produce all the documents required under the transparency act.
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Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, who had teamed up to get the bipartisan law passed that triggered the release, voiced their criticism and disappointment in posts on X.
“The DOJ’s document dump of hundreds of thousands of pages failed to comply with the law authored by @RepThomasMassie and me,” Mr Khanna said.
He said the release was “disappointing” and that survivors of Epstein’s abuse, and their lawyers, were still expecting to see a lot more files.
Mr Khanna particularly highlighted one document, which included 119 pages of Grand Jury testimony that were completely redacted.
“Unfortunately, today’s document release by @AGPamBondi and @DAGToddBlanche grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law that @realDonaldTrump signed just 30 days ago,” Mr Massie added.
Incomplete files ‘NOT MAGA’
Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the MAGA Republican Congresswoman who was once US President Donald Trump’s biggest cheerleader, isn’t happy either.
Mr Trump recently branded her a “traitor” after she became critical of his handling of the Epstein files, among other issues – prompting her resignation from Congress.
She wrote on X about Friday’s release, saying the following was “NOT MAGA”.
“The heavily redacted Epstein files being released, failure to release them all by today’s lawful deadline, and redacting ‘politically exposed individuals and government officials’,” Ms Taylor Greene wrote.
White House defends release
The justice department said it was not redacting the names of any politicians.
“The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law – full stop. Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim,” it quoted deputy attorney general Mr Blanche in a post on X.
The Trump administration has claimed to be the most transparent in history.
In a statement, the White House claimed the release also demonstrated its commitment to justice for Epstein’s victims, criticising previous Democratic administrations for not doing the same.
But that statement ignored that the disclosures only happened because Congress forced the administration’s hand with a bill demanding the release, after Trump officials declared earlier this year that no more Epstein files would be made public.
Can Democrats force the full release?
Democrat senator Jeff Merkley said that by disregarding the deadline, the administration was denying justice to Epstein’s victims.
He added he was “exploring all avenues and legal tools to get justice for the victims and transparency for the American people”.
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One potential avenue for Democrats would be going to court to force the justice department to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but that would likely be a lengthy process that would play out while the department releases more files.
The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena for the Epstein files in the meantime, which could give Congress another avenue to force the release.
However, this would require Republicans to join the Democrats in contempt-of-Congress proceedings against Mr Trump’s Republican administration.
