The US Department of Justice has released tens of thousands of documents in the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of trafficking people for the purpose of their sexualised exploitation.
The materials are published on the implementation of the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” (Epstein Files Transparency Act), approved by the US Congress and signed by President Donald Trump a month ago. The first part of the archived documents appeared on the ministry’s website on the evening of 19 December. In the coming weeks, the department intends to release tens of thousands more files on the Epstein case.
Many of the files, both texts and photos, are in redacted form. The department explained that it had taken “all reasonable steps to verify and delete personal information about the victims.” However, the department warned, due to the large amount of data, it could “inadvertently” contain sensitive information and sexually explicit material.
As US media pay attention, the documents in the Epstein case do not contain significant additional information about the financier’s ties to influential US businessmen and politicians.
Donald Trump, who previously disapproved of the disclosure of Epstein’s files, is not often mentioned in the released documents. The US press notes that the archive contains quite a few images featuring former US President Bill Clinton. Also among others on the pictures can be seen singer Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Financier Jeffrey Epstein has been charged with human trafficking for the purpose of sexualised exploitation. According to the investigation, the businessman received sexual favours from underage girls and lent them to powerful people. Epstein was first convicted in 2008 in a prostitution case. Then he made a deal with the investigation and spent 13 months in prison. He was next detained in July 2019 on human trafficking charges. Shortly after his arrest, Epstein committed suicide in a prison cell in New York City.