The Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files Friday showed how the Trump administration is using various tactics to try to cover up the president’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Despite the arrival of the deadline that the law had set for releasing the files of the investigation into the pedophile, the Justice Department had offered little information on its plans to make them public. What was certain was that the department would release the files Friday afternoon, resorting to the usual Washington trick of hiding unfavorable news by making it public just before the weekend, when public attention is less.
Amid this opacity, Friday morning, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said on Fox News that the Justice Department would not release all the records Friday, as required by law. “It is anticipated that we will release more documents in the coming weeks; today, several hundred thousand, and in the coming weeks, several hundred thousand more,” Blanche said on the ultra-conservative network. “A lot of people are looking at them and we want to make sure that by releasing these materials we protect all victims.”
When the Justice Department finally released thousands of pages of records Friday evening — not the hundreds of thousands Blanche had promised on Fox News — many documents had been largely or entirely redacted. With the exception of a few photos, the documents from the legal investigation did not mention Trump, although, according to various media reports, Attorney General Pam Bondi had warned Trump earlier this year that his name appeared in these files.
The manner in which the files were released shows how the Trump administration is trying to balance the demand to make the documents public — something largely encouraged by the MAGA base — with covering up, through their gradual release, situations uncomfortable for Trump, who was a friend of Epstein’s for years. Blanche’s announcement that the Justice Department will continue to regularly release documents over the coming weeks — that is, over the Christmas holiday — suggests the government is betting that Americans will stop paying attention to the story as it drags on.
Thomas Massie, one of the Republican congressmen who promoted the Epstein Records Disclosure Act, was one of several lawmakers to express outrage at the language used by the Trump administration. On Twitter, he said the post “blatantly violates” the law.
“The Trump administration is the most transparent in history. By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and recently calling for an investigation into Epstein’s Democratic friends, the Trump administration has done more for victims than the Democratic Party,” a White House spokeswoman responded in a statement. The Justice Department has so far avoided responding to criticism of the Guardian’s request.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which regulates the disclosure of documents, requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit, within 15 days of the documents’ release, a report detailing the category of all files and a summary of any deletions or modifications made and their legal basis. It is unclear whether this report will be delayed, as the files will be released gradually.
Although Trump barely appears in the material released Friday — in fact, over the weekend, some of the released materials in which he appeared apparently disappeared from the Justice Department’s website — Bill Clinton appears in several images. ‘The Daily Wire’, a site close to Trump, obtained a photo of Clinton and Epstein on Thursday, a day before publication. Among the photos posted Friday were photos of Clinton lounging in a pool and hot tub. Spokespeople for the Department of Justice and the White House were quick to highlight these images on Twitter.
“Dear Democratic President, The black box was added to the image to protect a victim,” Justice Department spokesman Gates McGavick posted alongside a photo of Clinton in what appears to be a hot tub with another person whose face is redacted. White House communications director Steven Cheung posted another photo of Clinton with someone whose face is redacted and, quoting the song Jumpman by rappers Drake and Future, wrote: “These guys are up to something.” »
Ángel Ureña, Clinton’s spokesperson, released a statement late Friday saying the Trump administration was using the former president to try to distract from Trump’s ties to Epstein.
“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to reveal them on a Friday night to protect Bill Clinton. It’s about what comes next, or what they will try to hide forever,” Ureña said in the statement. “So you can post as many photos from 20-plus years ago as you want, but it’s not about Bill Clinton. It was never about that.”
Many other celebrities appear in the images released Friday, including Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Richard Branson, Chris Tucker, David Copperfield and Kevin Spacey. Like Clinton, neither has been charged with crimes related to Epstein. But his immediate appearance in the files benefits Trump, giving the impression that it was not uncommon for famous men to associate with Epstein.
Like the most combative Republicans, the publication (and the strategy used) did not appease the Democrats on Capitol Hill either. The party leadership has sharply criticized the limited disclosure of the files and some have already called for Bondi’s dismissal. “Now the cover-up has been exposed. It’s far from over,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in X. “Bondi is expected to resign tonight.”
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