US Justice Department Releases Heavily Redacted Epstein Files, Sparking Victims’ Outrage

(United States, 21st) The US Department of Justice has released heavily redacted Jeffrey Epstein files, triggering intense dissatisfaction among victims.

On Friday (December 19), the US Department of Justice began publishing a large number of documents on its official website related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The people appearing in these materials and photos include former Democratic President Bill Clinton, the Prince Andrew who was stripped of his royal status, and the late pop icon Michael Jackson.

Previously, Trump had always opposed making the Epstein case files public, but under heavy pressure from Republicans, he ultimately agreed to support the bill—which passed both houses of Congress by overwhelming majority—to release the files. However, many of the documents revealed on Friday were heavily redacted, with content obscured. According to reports, very little of the latest released files involve Trump, which has also attracted attention.
A woman who accused Epstein, Laseda, told CBS: “Just release the files directly, stop blacking out those names that shouldn’t be redacted. Are we protecting survivors, or these elite men? What is called transparency ends up just hiding the names of survivors and victims.”

Another Epstein victim, Michaels, said she spent hours combing through the files trying to find her own statements as a victim and records of phone calls she made to the FBI’s tip line at the time, but “couldn’t find any of it at all.” “Is this the best the government can do? Even legislation from Congress can’t achieve justice for us.”
Among the released documents and photos, there are quite a few involving Clinton, including photos of him enjoying a hot tub and photos taken together with Epstein.

White House Director of Communications Zhang Zhenxi seized the opportunity to go after Clinton. Clinton’s spokesperson hit back: “If the White House truly wanted to protect Clinton, would they have delayed for months and then released these files in the middle of the night on Friday? This is obviously to cover for themselves.”