For days, Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke about the dissemination of the “Epstein Archives”, allegedly secret documents that the federal government would have about some of the powerful who orbited around the discredited financier Jeffrey Epstein.
However, the 200 pages of documents released by Bondi on Thursday contained few new information that they pointed to for irregularities committed by anyone, besides Epstein himself, a registered sex criminal who died in prison.
The disclosure consisted mainly of flight records of Epstein aircraft – already made public for a long time – and contact information from hundreds of associates, along with brief descriptions of items found in their homes.
Of promise to disappointment
The disclosure was announced as a landmark in the Justice Department. However, the first release of documents, which Bondi promoted as “bombastic news” in an appearance in Fox News On Wednesday night (26), a political theater was largely revealed.
The confusing announcement throughout the day still generated new conspiracy theories among some supporters of the president who see Epstein’s investigation as a source of covered mysteries and secrets.
On Thursday afternoon, Bondi and Kash Patel, director of the FBI, offered a preview of documents to several conservative influencers, some of whom came out of the west holding white folders labeled “The Epstein: Phase I” files. One of them later called the folder “an interesting souvenir.”
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However, until mid -afternoon, the Justice Department had not yet published the content. Bondi began to receive criticism on the social networks of supporters who had believed in their promise the night before. Conservative personality Glenn Beck posted on platform X: “Epstein files are a total joke,” he asked, “Who is sabotaging the president?”
Bondi replied promising more documents soon. He later said that an FBI “source” in New York had informed him that the agency retained “thousands” of unprecedented pages of documents about Epstein and that it was determined to obtain them, according to a letter released by its spokesman.
More promises
The documents were published on Thursday night, accompanied by a Patel statement: “If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will discover them. ”
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Still, some Republicans in Congress expressed their dissatisfaction on social networks.
“This is not what we or the American people ask, it is a complete disappointment. Give us the information we ask! ” He wrote the deputy Anna Paulina Luna, from Florida.
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Epstein, a college dropout and self -proclaimed financial genius, committed suicide in August 2019, a month after his arrest on federal sexual trafficking charges.
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Epstein is estimated to have sexually abused over 200 adolescents and young women over three decades. During this time, he accumulated a fortune of $ 600 million and made friends with some of the most influential and famous people in the world.
The finally published documents included an entirely written list of 254 people described as masseurs.
Many of Epstein’s famous names surfaced in 2015, when Gawker published its so -called “black book” with names, numbers and addresses.
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The list included mogles such as Leslie Wexner, Leon Black, Bill Gates and Reid Hoffman, all who said they regret their association with Epstein.
Former long, former President Bill Clinton, the UK prince Andrew and celebrities such as Kevin Spacey and Naomi Campbell were close to Epstein at some point, and some traveled on their private aircraft, as previously disclosed legal documents.
The most remarkable flight list was a 118-page document presented at the Epstein longtime-associated Ghislaine Maxwell trial and his ex-girlfriend, convicted in 2021 for helping Epstein in his sex trafficking activities.
For years, conspiracy theorists have believed that the government covered not only the cause of Epstein’s death, but also the names of powerful involved with their victims.
Conspiracy Theories
In conservative means, including the Fox News And Truth Social Platform of Trump has long been circulating rumors about an “Epstein customer list” with the names of men to whom Epstein would have provided women. However, such a “customer list” was never mentioned in victims moved.
Before entering the Trump administration, Bondi helped feed these speculation by questioning, in interviews, the government’s refusal to release documents about Epstein.
The FBI also refused to disclose certain documents requested by lawyers of the victims and the media. In October, the agency rejected a request from the Freedom of Information Law presented by the The New York Timeswho sought a complete list of items seized by federal agents in Epstein homes in New York and US virgin islands after his arrest in July 2019.
The documents released by Bondi may contain partial descriptions of some of these items, including “VHS tape”, “envelope containing 4 CDs” and “Photo portraying two girls”.
More than two dozen Epstein victims filed a lawsuit against the FBI, claiming that the agency failed to properly investigate its complaints.
Jordan Merson, whose law firm represents the victims in the process, said that Bondi has taken a first positive step and expects this to lead to the “seriousness necessary to deal with the pain of the victims” who process the FBI.
