Sawt Falasteen - Victims, lawmakers criticize partial release of Epstein files

The trove of material released by the US Justice Department included photographs of former president Bill Clinton and other famous names in Epstein's social circle including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.

But blackouts of many of the documents -- combined with control over the release by officials in President Donald Trump's administration -- fueled allegations of a high-level cover-up.

Democrats on Saturday demanded answers after one image that included a photo of Trump was no longer visible in the Justice Department's online release.

"If they're taking this down, just imagine how much more they're trying to hide," said senior Democrat Chuck Schumer. "This could be one of the biggest cover ups in American history."

Among scores of blacked-out sections, one 119-page document labeled "Grand Jury-NY" was entirely redacted.

One Epstein survivor, Jess Michaels, said she spent hours combing the documents to find her victim's statement and communication from when she had called an FBI tip line.

"I can't find any of those," she told CNN. "Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn't getting us justice."

Even so, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier's intimate ties to the rich, famous and powerful -- Trump, once a close friend, among them.

At least one file contains dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures. Previously unseen photographs of disgraced former prince Andrew show him lying across the legs of five women.

Other pictures show Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out, and swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

- Victim privacy -

When Trump's aides goaded Clinton over the photos, his spokesman responded that the White House "hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves."

Among the paperwork were handwritten notes using phrases such as "I have a female for him" and "[redacted] has girl for tonight."

Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has long pushed for complete release of the files, said the release "grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law."

That law required the government's case file to be posted publicly by Friday, constrained only by legal and victim privacy concerns.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC that there was no attempt "to hold anything back" to protect Trump.

Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of the files linked to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

The Republican president ultimately bowed to mounting pressure from Congress -- including members of his own party -- and last month signed the law compelling publication of the materials.

Trump once moved in the same Palm Beach and New York party scene as Epstein, appearing with him at events throughout the 1990s. He severed ties years before Epstein's 2019 arrest and faces no accusations of wrongdoing in the case.

But his right-wing base has long fixated on the Epstein saga and conspiracy theories alleging the financier ran a sex trafficking ring for the global elite.

Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes, and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the former banker, whose death was ruled a suicide.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST