A million more Epstein documents uncovered, release to be delayed

A MILLION MORE documents potentially linked to the deceased former financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have been discovered, meaning that the release of all files connected to him may be delayed by a few weeks. 

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI informed the US Department of Justice that they have uncovered the documents, the department said in a tweet this evening. 

The Department has now received the documents and will review them for release in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed with bipartisan support in November of this year after Trump made a u-turn on the matter. 

All files were supposed to be released by now, but only some have been in large tranches. 

This is because each page is being reviewed to redact information related to the identities of Epstein’s many victims, and also child sexual abuse materials are being redacted from what is being publicly released. 

What has been released has sparked major talking points, including on Epstein’s relationships with celebrities including Michael Jackson, and on the extent of his and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell’s involvement with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew). 

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Epstein died in federal custody while awaiting trial for sex trafficking crimes in 2019. 

He was accused of sex trafficking young women and girls as young as 14. 

In brief, in 2005 police opened an investigation into Epstein in Palm Beach after a 14-year-old girl’s parents said he paid her for a massage. 

Police then gathered more allegations from underage girls who say he sexually abused them at his mansion in encounters that often began as massages. 

Later accusations were brought forward publicly by many different women, including Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that she was sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell for years, and that she was forced to have sex with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor on multiple occasions. 

Today the US Department of Justice said that it has lawyers working “round the clock” to review the newly uncovered files and make the “legally required redactions to protect victims”. 

“We will release the documents as soon as possible,” a spokesperson said. 

“Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks,” they added. 

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