For several days, Attorney General Pam Bondy was talking about the release of the “Epstein Files.”
However, the roughly 200-page document released by Bondi on Thursday contained little new information pointing to fraudulent behavior by anyone other than Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in prison. The dump of the documents consisted primarily of Mr. Epstein's plane flight log (published long ago) and contact information from hundreds of fellow members, along with brief descriptions of items found at his residence.
This release was billed as a gesture that guides a new era of transparency at the Department of Justice. However, the hyped first release of the document (taught as “breaking news” in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday night) looked almost like a political theatre. That confusing day unfolding among Trump supporters who view Epstein's investigation as a fountain of other plots, has spun several new theories of conspiracy.
On Thursday afternoon, FBI directors Bondi and Kash Patel provided some conservative influencers with sneak previews of the document. One of them later called it an “interesting souvenir.”
However, in the afternoon, the Department of Justice had not posted any content. And Bondi was garnering criticism on social media from those who took her with her words the night before. Conservative personality Glenn Beck posted on X: “The Epstein Files are a complete joke” and “Who is destroying Potus?”
Mr. Bondy responded by pledging more documents in the future. She then said that “sources” at the FBI Field Office in New York City withheld “thousands” of “thousands” of previously unknown pages of Epstein-related documents, and that she decided to get them.
The document was released late Thursday, with Patel's statement saying: “If there are gaps, we find them. If the records are hidden, we reveal them.”
Still, some Republicans in Congress won an X to speak up about their complaints about the information that Bondy released.
“This is not something we or the Americans wanted, and it's not a complete disappointment. Get us the information we wanted!” wrote Florida president Anna Paulina Luna.
Epstein, a university dropout and self-proclaimed financial whiz, committed suicide in August 2019.
Epstein is believed to have sexually abused more than 200 teenage girls and young women over 30 years. Meanwhile, he collected $600 million worth of fortunes and became friends with some of the world's most powerful and famous people.
The document, which was finally posted on Thursday night, contained a fully compiled list of 254 people called Massages.
Many of the bold names associated with Epstein were first revealed in 2015 when Gawker published what is called black names, numbers and addresses.
That list includes retail giant Leslie Wexner, private equitymo gulle Leon Black, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and venture capitalist Reed Hoffman. All of those men say they regret their relationship with Mr. Epstein.
Also known for celebrities, including President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, British Prince Andrew, Kevin Spacey and Naomi Campbell, have been friendly with Epstein at one time, and have traveled Epstein's civilian planes, according to previously released flight logs, trial testimony and court filings.
The most notable flight log was a 118-page document produced at the criminal trial of Gith Lane Maxwell, one of Mr. Epstein's longtime companions and one of his ex-girlfriends. She was convicted in 2021 on charges that Epstein had supported him in his sex trafficking activities.
Justice Department leaders claimed that the papers published Thursday were “declassified,” but none of them had a classification mark or a mark of confidentiality.
The release of the document on Thursday was the moment when he said a lot about the Trump administration. Two of the country's most powerful law enforcement officers, Bondy, and Patel, who oversees critical national security and criminal investigations, have chosen to prioritize long-conclusioned cases to ease the conservative media and the obsessive core of Trump's candidates who view the case as evil, unfinished business.
For years, conspiracy theorists have believed that not only is its cause of Epstein's death, but there is also a grand government conspiracy to hide the names of powerful men who abused several of the victims, including teenage girls and women.
Right-wing media platforms such as Fox News and Trump's own service, Truth Social, have been talking for a long time about the “Epstein Client List,” which details the names of the men who sourced women. However, there was never a mention of the “client list” of civil lawsuits filed by the victim.
Before joining the Trump administration, Bondy fueled some of his speculations himself by speaking in a media interview about the government's refusal to release the Epstein documents.
The FBI also refused to release several documents requested by lawyers for the victims and news media. In October, the FBI rejected a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the New York Times for a list of all items seized by federal agents when they searched New York's Epstein home and Epstein's home in the Virgin Islands after their arrest in July 2019.
The documents released by Bondi may contain partial explanations of some items seized by federal agents. Under the heading “List of Evidence” you will find a brief description of items such as “VHS tape,” “Envelope containing four CDs,” and “Photos depicting two girls.”
More than dozens of Epstein's victims have joined the lawsuit filed with the FBI in ignoring previous investigations into his activities and complaints filed by the victims.
Jordan Mason, whose law firm handles the case, said he hoped that Bondy would take a good first step and “take the victim's pain seriously” that he was suing the FBI.
Devlin Barrett Reports of contributions.
