MILLIONS of explosive new Epstein recordsdata dumped by DoJ in shock launch: Live updates

The Department of Justice released at least three million pages of documents linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that the department published ‘more than three million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images in total.’

‘That means the department produced approximately 3.5 million pages in compliance with the act,’ he said.

Hundreds of thousands of documents from the investigation into his sex crimes have already been made public.

Those documents include images of the disgraced financier and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, socializing with high-profile figures, including former president Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson.

Deputy AG Todd Blanche said six million pages of the Jeffrey Epstein files were collected and were contextually relevant, but three million had been released.

‘Although the act allows for withholding for items necessary to keep secret in the interest of national security or foreign policy, no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis,’ he said.

‘As you all know, under the act, the Department must subsequently submit to the House and Senate committees on Judiciary a report listing all categories of records released and withheld, a summary of redactions made, including legal basis for such redactions, and a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the act. We will do so in due course as required under the act.’

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted that the Department of Justice did not protect Donald Trump as they reviewed the Epstein files.

‘No, we did not protect President Trump,’ he said. ‘We didn’t protect or not protect anybody, I think there’s a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents.’

Blanche said that Trump has been ‘consistent’ with his stance on Epstein and directed the DOJ to be transparent.

“There’s not been a change,’ he said. ‘[Trump’s] direction to the Department of Justice was to be transparent, release the files, be as transparent as we can, and that’s exactly what we did.’

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted ‘mistakes are inevitable’ in Epstein files redactions.

‘The attorney general, the director of the FBI, and our partners throughout this administration work hard every single day to protect the most vulnerable among us with the protection of this magnitude,’ he said.

‘Mistakes are inevitable. We, of course, want to immediately correct any redaction errors that our team may have made.’

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche explained the DOJ’s redaction process.

‘The categories of documents withheld include those permitted under the act to be withheld, files that contain personally identifiable information of victims, personal and medical files and similar files,’ he said.

‘The disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’

Blanche said ‘extensive reactions’ have been done to the files to protect victims, and all women have been blocked out.

‘With the exception of Maxwell, we did not redact images of any man unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man,’ he said.

‘To this end, though, and to ensure transparency, if any member of Congress wishes to review any portions of the responsive production in any unredacted form, they’re welcome to make arrangements with the department to do so.’

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is holding a press conference to discuss the newly published Epstein files.

‘I’m here today to talk about the department’s compliance with its production obligations,’ he said.

‘We are also releasing today a letter we are transmitting to Congress and various internal protocols associated with our review.’

The release of the Epstein files has been met with a growing backlash after huge swathes of the documents were redacted.

The Department of Justice dumped hundreds of thousands of pages on Friday in line with last month’s law compelling their release.

The legislation lays out specific guidelines on what could and could not legally be redacted in regards to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in a New York jail cell in 2019.