The Trump administration has announced it will only release about half the files it has collected relating to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, renewing fears of an ongoing cover-up.
Amid a flurry of news distractions on Friday—including the stunning arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon—Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the department had “completed” its review of the files.
“We’re releasing more than 3 million pages today, and not the 6 million pages that we collected,” Blanche said, noting that 2000 videos and 180,000 images would also form part of the new trove.
“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” he added.
“After submitting the final report to Congress, as required under the Act, and publishing the written justifications for redactions in the Federal Register, the department’s obligations under the Act will be completed.”
The announcement came 42 days after the department was required by law to release all the relevant files relating to Epstein’s networks and crimes, as required under the Transparency Act that president Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law last year.
According to Blanche, some of the files that would not be released include documents that could jeopardize ongoing investigations, anything that breaches attorney-client privilege, files that identify victims, and any depiction of child pornography.
Images of death, physical abuse or injury would also not be released, he said.
But the fact that the department has chosen to hold back so many files has renewed concerns that some people involved in Epstein’s heinous operation may not end up being held to account.
For instance, as revealed by the Daily Beast this week, Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell filed a habeas petition in court last month hoping to void her conviction.
In it, she references four potential “co-conspirators” and “25 men” who allegedly reached “secret settlements” connected to Epstein’s abuse but were never indicted.
Asked about his reaction to Maxwell’s petition, Blanche replied on Friday: “I don’t, I don’t, I don’t have a reaction to her filing.
“I can tell you that we reviewed, as I just described, every single piece of paper that we have associated with these investigations, of Mr Epstein and Ms Maxwell and to the extent that such arrangements exist, I’m not aware of them,” he said.
Epstein survivor Haley Robson said transparency would involve the department “putting all the cards on the table, and that is certainly not what this administration has done.”
Democrat Stephen Lynch, a member of the House Oversight Committee, added that he didn’t trust the department and would seek a review of its redactions.
“They said there were six million documents, we would like to see all six million documents,” he said.
However, Blanche, who is Trump’s former personal attorney, pushed back against suggestions that the department was trying to protect the president from any embarrassing or adverse findings.
The deputy attorney general set off alarm bells last year when he held a highly unusual private meeting with Maxwell as the firestorm over Epstein files intensified.
During their meeting, Maxwell gushed about the president, insisting she had never seen him do anything inappropriate.
Soon after, she was quietly transferred to a low maximum security prison in Texas, where whistleblowers claim she has been given preferential treatment, including access to a puppy, a cordoned off area for visitors, and permission to go to the exercise area after hours.
“We comply with the act, and there is no ‘protect President Trump.’ We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” Blanche said.
“I mean, I think that there’s a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents. And there’s nothing I can do about that.”
The Epstein files have been an ongoing headache for President Donald Trump, who is named repeatedly in the documents released so far.
For instance, bombshell emails reveal Trump “spent hours” at Jeffrey Epstein’s house with one of his victims, and “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop”—a reference to Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who recruited victims as part of his sex trafficking operation.
One of the documents also showed an FBI tip that accused him of holding a party for prostitutes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in connection with Epstein and Maxwell, while others revealed that he flew on Epstein’s private jet more frequently than had been previously reported.
Blanche’s announcement came hours after it was revealed that former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday night in connection with a church protest that had enraged Trump officials earlier this month.
“Time and again, the Trump Administration pursues its own political enemies over real justice,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the lead Democrat on the House Oversight committee.
“This is an attack on free press, and EVERY American must push back on this dangerous, horrific, and authoritarian act. Don must be freed immediately.”
