The full Epstein files are set to be released in hours, capping off a year where the convicted child sex offender opened up a vicious battle within the Republican Party and dominated political discourse throughout the country.
Rank-and-file GOP voters wanted full transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, his crimes and his connections to powerful people all around the world.
However, many elected Republicans and President Donald Trump appointees were not as eager to be candid, despite the president promising on the campaign trail that he would release the files.
In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had Epstein’s client list ‘sitting on my desk right now to review.’ By early July, the Department of Justice said it had found no evidence of a formal client list, enraging the most ardent MAGA devotees.
For months, House Speaker Mike Johnson delayed progress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act through a series of procedural maneuvers. He previously dismissed the push for the release of the files as a ‘shiny object’ and accused Democrats of weaponizing the issue against President Trump.
Everything changed on November 12, when Adelita Grijalva, the Arizona Democrat Johnson who had declined to swear in for seven weeks, became the 218th signature on the discharge petition that forced a vote on the bill to release the files.
Days later, Trump himself reversed course and backed the bill he had been railing against for weeks as a ‘Democratic hoax’. He signed it into law on November 19, which gave the Department of Justice exactly a month to release ‘all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials’ related to Epstein.
Lawmakers have been releasing material from the collection in stages, intensifying calls for the full set of Epstein-related files to be disclosed ahead of today’s deadline.
The Epstein files will be released on Friday after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed by President Donald Trump exactly one month ago (Pictured: Jeffrey Epstein stands with Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend and accomplice in his sex trafficking ring)
Former President Bill Clinton, along with singer Jimmy Buffett and his wife Jane Slagsvol, are pictured alongside Epstein and Maxwell
Yesterday a newly released cache of images renewed outrage after several photographs showed disturbing quotes from the controversial novel, Lolita, scrawled on a woman’s body.
They were part of a vast archive of around 95,000 photographs recovered from Epstein’s estate.
Despite the calls for transparency and the release of files, there are some things that will remain to be obscured from public view.
Under the law governing the files’ release, the Attorney General’s office has been given the power withhold or redact certain records.
Much of it is quite obvious, as no materials will be released that identify Epstein’s victims. Their medical records and any other personal information will be withheld to protect their privacy.
Any documents that depict child sex abuse material, death or physical abuse will also not be made available to the public.
The other ways Bondi can keep Epstein records in the DOJ’s vaults are a bit more open to interpretation.
If she deems that a disclosure would ‘jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution’, she can heavily redact it or withhold it entirely.
In one photograph released yesterday, the words: ‘She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock’ is scribbled on a mysterious person’s foot
The pictures were made public on December 18 by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee
Another avenue to secrecy is if a particular record is covered by an executive order that prevents declassification on the basis of protecting national security or the foreign policy interests of the United States.
In practice, this could mean that names or codenames of CIA, NSA or foreign intelligence assets will be kept under wraps. Any possible communications with allied intelligence services will also almost certainly not come out.
This is relevant to Epstein because new reporting from Drop Site News has given more credence to the persistent theory that the disgraced financier could have been an asset for Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency.
This is a charge that Israel has repeatedly and forcefully denied.
It’s important to note that any redactions Bondi signs off on need to be accompanied by a written explanation that has to be sent to Congress and published in the Federal Register.
Additionally, no records can be redacted or withheld on the basis that they could embarrass or harm the reputation of any government official, foreign government officer or public figure.
In terms of what will be released, expect to see information about Epstein’s flight logs and a list of government officials named or referenced in the course of his criminal activities and civil settlements.
The law also stipulates that the DOJ must release its internal communications with respect to ‘decisions to charge, not charge, investigate, or decline to investigate Epstein or his associates’.
Clinton, while president, greets Epstein and Maxwell at the White House as guests in 1993
Trump appeared in a photo with scantily clad young women in an image released by House Democrats last week
Another section of the law appears to show just how much some members of Congress distrust the DOJ, as it orders the top law enforcement branch of the federal government to release all documents related to ‘the destruction, deletion, alteration, misplacement, or concealment of documents, recordings, or electronic data related to Epstein, his associates, his detention and death, or any investigative files’.
Congress has also demanded to see any immunity deals, non-prosecution agreements, plea bargains or sealed settlements involving Epstein or any of his associates.
This is something to watch out for, given that Epstein received a shockingly lenient deal from federal prosecutors in 2008 that allowed him to plead down from a slew of sex trafficking charges to just two counts of soliciting prostitution.
The deal, brokered by prosecutors the Southern District of Florida, allowed Epstein to serve 13 months in county jail. During that time, he was allowed to spend a significant amount of time out in the community on work release.
The details of that agreement were only ever uncovered after a wide-ranging investigation from the Miami Herald in 2018. That story ultimately led to the resignation of Alex Acosta from his post as Labor Secretary, since he was the US Attorney who signed off on the plea deal.
Other files already released include a photo showing a disturbing framed picture prominently displayed on Epstein’s desk.
It sparked intense speculation online, with social media users claiming it shows an incapacitated woman.
The image was among 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers from the disgraced financier’s estate on Friday, December 12.
No identifying information about Epstein’s victims will be released to the public. Pictured: Epstein is seated at his desk opposite right-wing political strategist Steve Bannon at the late pedophile’s Manhattan townhouse. A disturbing image is seen in a frame on his desk. It appears to show a person lying down. A black box has been placed over their face to protect their identity
The framed photo on the right corner of the desk facing toward Epstein appears to show a person lying down. A black box has been placed over their face to protect their identity
The photos in that batch included pictures of Trump, Bill Clinton and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The photos do not implicate any of the individuals in Epstein’s crimes.
In one of the undated images, Epstein is seated at his desk opposite right-wing political strategist Steve Bannon at the late pedophile’s Manhattan townhouse.
The pair had a professional relationship during 2018 and 2019, when Bannon provided media coaching and advice to Epstein on rehabilitating his public image.
A framed photo on the right corner of the desk facing toward Epstein appears to show a person lying down. A black box has been placed over their face to protect their identity.
The image’s contents cannot be definitively determined, but lurid claims have exploded on social media with commenters calling it ‘very disturbing’, as well as ‘vile and disgusting.’
‘What a sicko. What appears to be an incapacitated young girl passed out on a couch. You have to be pretty confident you won’t be arrested to have such a deplorable picture on your desk,’ a social media user, Leasha Knight, wrote on X.
Two other photos are visible on Epstein’s desk, both with black boxes to protect the identities of the persons that they show.
Epstein takes a mirror selfie with political strategist Bannon in an unknown location. Bannon provided media coaching and advice to Epstein in 2018 and 2019
The first, in a picture frame at the left corner of the desk, shows a person – perhaps a child – with their arm around Epstein and their head on his shoulder.
The third is seen resting in a plate close to the pedophile’s left hand. It is not possible to see what the photograph shows but the black box placed over it indicates that it contains at least one person whose identity is being protected.
The Daily Mail has contacted Bannon for comment.