The Epstein files have been released with more to come : NPR

The Justice Department has begun releasing Epstein documents in its possession relating to the life, death and criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

NPR reviews website The Department of Justice was created to make documents publicly available. Epstein's library includes documents broken down into court records, Justice Department disclosures, Freedom of Information Act records and House disclosures, including files already released by the House Oversight Committee. The Department of Justice was required by law to post the documents on its website and make them available for download and search.

Many of the files released Friday are already publicly available.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News Friday morning that “several hundred thousand” pages would be released Friday, with more to follow.

The release of the Epstein files is the latest development in a political saga that has dogged President Trump during his second term and sparked a bipartisan backlash against Trump's controversial and volatile comments on the issue.

On the campaign trail, Trump ramped up conspiracy theories about files on his former friend Epstein, promising to go public with information about the financier's crimes and connections to powerful men he claimed were hidden by the government.

After he returned to the White House, Trump fought attempts by lawmakers and his supporters to release the files, calling Republicans who demanded transparency “stupid” and accusing Democrats of spreading a “hoax” before ultimately signing the legislation, which passed almost unanimously.

Epstein File Transparency Act gave Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” about Epstein, available in a searchable and downloadable format.

The law also directed the Justice Department to share documents related to Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and “individuals named or mentioned in connection with Epstein's criminal activities,” information about plea deals and decisions not to charge Epstein with other alleged crimes, and records related to his 2019 death by suicide in federal custody.

Over the summer, the FBI released a memo saying its files contained “a significant amount of material, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and evidence.”

Some of them include photographs and videos of Epstein's accusers, including minors, as well as disturbing material that will not be made public. The congressional bill also states that anything “that could jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution” could also be delayed or redacted.

Trump has called on the Justice Department to investigate some Democrats and institutions he says were implicated in Epstein's crimes or named in other documents released, including tens of thousands of emails and private files submitted to the House Oversight Committee under a subpoena. FBI records and numerous court cases over the years.

“I will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, along with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationships with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reed Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase and many other people and institutions to determine what is happening to them and to him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in November.

In a separate Truth Social post announcing the signing of the Epstein File Transparency Act, Trump said Democrats were using the issue to distract from what he said were his administration's victories.

“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats and their connections to Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed because I JUST SIGNED THE EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE ACT!” he published.

President had the power to release the files without any congressional action.

Thousands of pages are already publicly available

The Justice Department files released Friday join tens of thousands of other records made public in recent years, including court cases, government documents and congressional subpoenas.

Emails and text messages distributed in some 23,000 documents released by the House Oversight Committee in early November revealed a list of influential people in politics, academia and business who sought his advice and friendship in the ensuing years. he pleaded guilty charged with solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution for minors under 18 in 2008.

People who consulted Epstein in these documents rarely acknowledged the seriousness of the crimes that required him to register as a sex offender, although mere correspondence with Epstein does not implicate individuals in his criminal activities, whether convicted or accused.

There is an apparent letter of recommendation for Epstein from linguist Noam Chomsky, calling him a “very valuable friend” and recalling how Epstein connected him with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, another frequent Epstein correspondent.

“Jeffrey continually raises challenging questions and puts forward provocative ideas that have repeatedly forced me to rethink important issues,” the letter said.

There's advice Epstein gave to Steve Bannon, Trump's former strategist, about how to build a far-right political movement abroad.

“If you're going to play here, you're going to have to spend time [E]Europe doesn’t work at a distance,” Epstein wrote in 2018. “There’s a lot of face-to-face time and holding hands. Europe can be a wife, not a mistress.”

Former Harvard University President and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is documented to have had intimate, personal conversations with Epstein on multiple occasions, including asking for romantic advice and making jokes about women's intelligence.

“I was screaming for inclusivity,” Summers wrote in 2017. — I noticed that half the IQ [in the] Women ruled the world, not to mention they made up more than 51 percent of the population…”

In the weeks following the release of Epstein's final emails, he resigned from OpenAI's board of directors and abruptly left his teaching position at Harvard as the university announced it was reviewing “information about people at Harvard included in Jeffrey Epstein's recently released documents to assess what actions may be warranted.”

Summers is not the only high-profile Democrat to find himself in Epstein's orbit. Katherine Ruemmler, a former White House counsel in the Obama administration and current general counsel at Goldman Sachs, corresponded with Epstein before and during Trump's first term.

“Trump is living proof of the adage that it's better to be lucky than smart,” she wrote in August 2015.

“I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” Ruemmler told the newspaper. Wall Street Journal in 2023.

Trump's name appears repeatedly

Trump was a frequent subject of emails and text messages in Epstein's latest private batch of files—more than a thousand different references—though mostly the subject of Epstein's near-obsession with his presidency, as the latter positioned himself as a sort of “Trump whisperer” to his powerful associates.

In one 2015 email between Epstein and writer Michael Wolf, the pair discuss a potential issue from an upcoming CNN report about Trump's personal ties to Epstein.

“I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolf wrote. “If he says he wasn't on the plane or at home, that gives you valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that will potentially benefit you in a positive way, or if it really looks like he might win, you can save him by creating debt.”

Another email Epstein sent in 2011 to Ghislaine Maxwell, his assistant convicted on human trafficking charges, calls Trump “the dog that didn't bark” and says Trump “spent hours in my house” with one of the alleged sex trafficking victims.

Another 2019 message between Epstein and Wolff, in which the disgraced financier wrote that “of course, [Trump] knew about the girls when he asked Ghislaine to stop.” The email did not provide any details.

“I have met some very bad people, but not as bad as Trump,” Epstein wrote to Summers in 2017. “Not a single decent cell in his body.”

In September, House Democrats released more than 200 pages of a more than two-decade-old congratulatory book for Epstein that includes an obscene drawing and a letter that appears to be signed by Trump.

The president, who has consistently denied any meaningful connection to Epstein, called the drawing and signature a “fake.”

In July, Trump told reporters that he and Epstein had a falling out because Epstein hired young female employees who worked at the Mar-a-Lago spa.