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Washington — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday that the Justice Department is releasing much than 3 cardinal pages of records related to its probe into convicted enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Blanche said during a quality league astatine the Justice Department that the merchandise Friday volition see much than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, and said that successful total, the Trump medication has produced astir 3.5 cardinal pages arsenic portion of its efforts to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
That law, passed by Congress and signed by President Trump past year, required the Justice Department to disclose each of its unclassified worldly related to its probe into Epstein and his longtime subordinate Ghislaine Maxwell by Dec. 19.
Blanche said that the images and videos made nationalist see "extensive redactions" to support survivors of Epstein's crimes.
"We redacted each pistillate depicted successful immoderate representation oregon video, with the objection of Ms. Maxwell," helium said. "We did not redact images of immoderate man, unless it was intolerable to redact the pistillate without besides redacting the man."
Maxwell was convicted successful 2021 for her relation successful a strategy to sexually exploit and maltreatment insignificant girls with Epstein and is serving a 20 twelvemonth situation sentence.
"Today's merchandise marks the extremity of a precise broad papers recognition and reappraisal process to guarantee transparency to the American radical and compliance with the act," Blanche said. "The section has engaged successful an unprecedented and extended effort to bash so."
He said that the Justice Department is submitting a last study to Congress and providing written justifications for redactions, which volition beryllium published successful the Federal Register. Once those requirements are fulfilled, the Justice Department obligations nether the Epstein Files Transparency Act "will beryllium completed," helium said.
Blanche said the Trump medication collected much than 6 cardinal pages successful effect to the Epstein-related instrumentality but is withholding a information of them for assorted reasons, including due to the fact that they incorporate survivors' idiosyncratic accusation oregon would jeopardize an progressive national investigation.
"I tin guarantee that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act, and we did not support President Trump. We didn't support oregon not support anybody," helium said. "There's a hunger oregon a thirst for accusation that I bash not deliberation volition beryllium satisfied by the reappraisal of these documents. There's thing I tin bash astir that."
Jay Clayton, the U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York, is leading an investigation into Epstein's ties to salient Democrats, including erstwhile President Bill Clinton, and large fiscal institutions. Mr. Trump had asked the Justice Department to look into Epstein's relationships with them successful November.
Blanche said the White House was not progressive successful the department's review.
"There's nary oversight by the White House successful the process we've taken implicit the past 60 days," helium said.
Before the latest tranche of records were made nationalist Friday, the Justice Department had released more than 100,000 pages of material, which person included photos, videos, tribunal records and emails, among different documents. While the archetypal batch of records contained fewer mentions of Mr. Trump, galore records made nationalist successful a 2nd question mentioned the president. Mr. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Included successful the earlier files was a 2020 email from a New York prosecutor, who said that formation logs revealed Mr. Trump flew connected Epstein's backstage pitchy "many much times" than was antecedently known. Investigators besides discussed "10 conspirators" earlier Epstein was arrested successful 2019, according to emails made nationalist conscionable earlier Christmas. Prosecutors had besides drafted a memo astir co-conspirators they could perchance charge, a message from 2020 showed.
Several photos released successful mid-December featured Clinton, including 1 showing him successful a blistery tub with different person, whose look is redacted.
Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for Clinton, accused the Trump medication successful a connection past period of "shielding themselves from what comes next, oregon from what they'll effort and fell forever." Clinton's squad "knew thing and chopped Epstein disconnected earlier his crimes came to light," helium said.
"So they tin merchandise arsenic galore grainy 20-plus-year-old photos arsenic they want, but this isn't astir Bill Clinton. Never has, ne'er volition be," Ureña said.
While Congress acceptable a Dec. 19 deadline for the Justice Department to merchandise each of the unclassified worldly related to Epstein, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche said earlier this period that the section was still reviewing much than 2 cardinal documents that it had to marque nationalist nether the law.
The section leaders said successful a missive to the U.S. territory tribunal successful New York, which oversaw the transgression cases against Epstein and Maxwell, that more than 500 radical were tasked with reviewing and redacting the accusation related to Epstein. In different update to the court, Bondi and Blanche said Tuesday that they expected to publish each of the remaining worldly "in the adjacent term."
Lawmakers connected Capitol Hill person criticized the Justice Department implicit its merchandise of the documents and the scope of the disclosures aft Blanche said they would beryllium made nationalist connected a rolling ground due to the fact that of the measurement of worldly and the request to redact the idiosyncratic accusation of survivors.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, accused the Justice Department of "openly defying the law" by refusing to disclose each of the files.
The Trump medication faced unit from Congress and immoderate of the president's allies to merchandise each worldly from the national probe into Epstein aft the Justice Department and FBI said successful a memo past July that they would not disclose immoderate further accusation astir Epstein's case.
Following that revelation, lawmakers connected Capitol Hill launched their ain probe into the national government's handling of Epstein's case, and person sought and received documents and photos from Epstein's estate.
Mr. Trump and Epstein were friends for years and ran successful the aforesaid societal circles successful New York and Florida from the precocious 1980s to the aboriginal 2000s. But the president said they had a falling retired astir 2004, much than a decennary earlier Epstein was indicted connected national enactment trafficking charges successful 2019. He died by suicide at a Manhattan correctional installation portion awaiting trial.
Epstein was initially investigated by authorities authorities successful Florida successful 2005 and indicted connected a authorities prostitution complaint the pursuing year. He was besides investigated by national instrumentality enforcement. But Epstein reached a woody with national prosecutors successful Florida successful 2008 that saw him plead blameworthy to 2 authorities prostitution charges and service an 18-month situation sentence, and debar national prosecution.
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