An incomplete and heavily edited publication of the ‘Epstein files’ by the US Department of Justice revealed few new facts on Friday evening. Democrats in Washington were outraged by the turn of events, while almost all Republicans – including those who worked hard for months to publish the documents – remained silent.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said in a statement that “simply releasing a mountain of black pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law.” Some of his fellow party members said they were considering legal action to obtain more information.
Friday evening’s publication followed a protracted political battle. President Donald Trump, who was close to sex offender Epstein for years, long resisted disclosure. However, there were major divisions over the issue within his party and the MAGA supporters. This led to a number of Republicans deciding a month ago to agree to a law that forced publication before midnight on December 19.
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But just before the publication, the ministry announced that it had not been possible to review all the documents before the deadline. That immediately caused a commotion. Republican Thomas Massie, who has long campaigned for publication, posted on X: “Time is up. Make all documents public.”
Black-lacquered documents
In the hours that followed, the international press focused on what had emerged (the ministry’s website soon crashed). Journalists are still working on that hours later. But it is certain that searches for several well-known names, including Trump, have yielded few reports, and that large parts of the documents have been blacked out. So reported The New York Times that a 119-page document is completely painted black.
The ministry must anonymize (parts of) documents if it concerns the identity of Epstein’s victims and their family members, or if it concerns information relevant to ongoing investigations. Several Democrats said on Friday they suspect this has been applied too broadly.
The biggest news was that the FBI was alerted to Epstein’s interest in “child pornography” in 1996 after he stole two photos of underage girls. This report came from Maria Farmer, who has said for years that she called in the FBI, but never heard anything. The documents now confirm her report.
Bill Clinton
It was striking that there were many photos of Bill Clinton in the documents, with Epstein, but also with Michael Jackson, among others. Immediately after publication, these were seen all over the internet, and members of the White House staff also circulated them on social media. „Oh my!” Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote on X next to a photo of Clinton in a hot tub with an anonymized woman.
Undated photo of Bill Clinton in a hot tub with an unidentified woman.
Photo US Department of Justice via AP
The Trump administration has been trying for some time to focus the attention in the Epstein dossier on Clinton. It is widely known that the former president and Epstein dated for a while. There is no indication that Clinton has committed any criminal offenses, and he says he had not spoken to Epstein in 20 years when he was arrested in 2019.
From the Republican side, it remained very quiet on Friday evening after publication. With the exception of Massie, who also expressed dissatisfaction about the lack of transparency after publication, there were hardly any reactions. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently broke with Trump in part because of her continued commitment to disclosure, wrote on X that she “couldn’t have been prouder” of what she had accomplished.
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Trump himself also did not make himself heard and left for North Carolina on Air Force One for a speech. According to CNN, Todd Blanche, the second in command of the Justice Department and responsible for the disclosure, was also on board.
Whether the publications are actually enough to quell the Epstein rebellion in Trump’s own party and movement remains to be seen. But it is clear that opponents will continue to accuse the president of a cover-up after Friday evening. Trump has thus again failed to put Epstein – his biggest political Achilles heel – behind him for the time being. That is increasingly risky as the crucial 2026 midterm elections approach.
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