The Department of Justice on Friday resumed releasing more of the long-awaited investigative files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The new document dump came more than a month after the DOJ posted some 3,500 files on its website that included court documents, correspondence and dozens of photos that had previously not been made public.
Some of that material appeared to be highly sexual in nature and was redacted. Others were marked CSAM, which stands for “child sex abuse material.”
The new Epstein material released Friday appeared after the DOJ missed the deadline to turn over all the documents required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law Nov. 19 and gave Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to release all of the department’s Epstein files.
Epstein was charged in 2019 in Manhattan federal court with sex trafficking of minors, many of whom he allegedly preyed on while they were performing massages on him. He died behind bars while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide.
In the files that were released in December, there are several photos of Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell on what appear to be trips or vacations with others.
Epstein surrounded himself with rich and influential people and was friends for many years with Donald Trump before the Manhattan mogul was elected president.
A search tool on the DOJ’s website surfaced Trump’s name hundreds of times in the documents released in December.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes related to Epstein. But he and Epstein were fast friends until they had a falling out around 15 years ago.
In addition to Trump, Epstein had been close friends with powerful men like former President Bill Clinton, Ohio billionaire Les Wexner and the former Prince Andrew of Britain, among others.
Epstein’s death while awaiting trial fueled years of conspiracy theories, some of which Trump himself fanned.
During the presidential campaign in 2024, Trump promised to “declassify the Epstein files” if elected. And in February, his handpicked attorney general, Bondi, announced that an Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now” waiting to be reviewed and released.
But the “Epstein binders” Bondi circulated to MAGA influencers contained no client list and turned out to be information that had already been made public.
Trump’s core supporters erupted in anger when the DOJ and FBI announced in July that an exhaustive Epstein case review had uncovered no evidence that justified investigating other individuals. And despite earlier pledges of transparency, they said no more information about the case would be released.
Faced with an open revolt by some of his most ardent supporters, Trump called the demands for releasing the files a “Democratic hoax.”