Latest news with #TheEpsteinFiles:Phase1
The Independent
03-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Attorney General Pam Bondi insists more Jeffrey Epstein files are being released – despite disastrous ‘phase 1'
Attorney General Pam Bondi has again proclaimed that America will get 'the full' Jeffrey Epstein files after the highly-anticipated 'first phase' contained no major new allegations about the convicted sex offender nor his associates. The nation's top law enforcement officer publicly released about 200 pages of files Thursday, including a series of flight logs from Esptein's private jet, a partly-redacted 'contacts list,' and a fully blacked-out list of 'masseuses.' Later Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice accused the FBI of withholding 'thousands of pages' of Epstein documents, as Bondi wrote a letter to the bureau's newly-confirmed director Kash Patel demanding that all material related to the disgraced financier be turned over to her office by Friday morning. On Saturday, Bondi told Fox News host Mark Levin that Americans will 'get the full Epstein files' thanks to Donald Trump being the 'most transparent president.' 'New York City SDNY (Southern District of New York), they're sitting on thousands of pages of documents regarding Epstein. Thousands, thousands. And of course, you've seen the very strong letter,' she said. 'We will get everything. We will have it in our possession. We will redact it, of course, to protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses. But the American people have a right to know. And Donald Trump is the most transparent president in our nation's history.' Bondi also promised that documents surrounding the assassinations of former President John F Kennedy and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr will also be declassified. 'So not only will America get the full Epstein files, they will get JFK, they will get Martin Luther King,' she said. The hyped declassification of 'all' of the Epstein documents was met with backlash from conservatives after Bondi teed up their release Wednesday and told Fox News that the details 'will make you sick.' A cohort of MAGA influencers elaborately unveiled binders containing 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1' at the White House Thursday before the DoJ made the documents publicly available online. Much of the material released was previously published material from the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend and close confidant, two years after the disgraced financier took his own life while in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on new charges of trafficking teenage girls. Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein's criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests. In January 2024, a court unsealed the final batch of documents collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. 'It was released in an unprofessional manner with paid, partisan social media influencers to curate their binders for us,' right-wing media pundit and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer tweeted Thursday. 'I can't trust anything in the binder. Neither should you.' Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, head of a new congressional task force to declassify 'federal secrets,' added: 'THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR! Later Thursday, Bondi instructed Patel to conduct an 'immediate' investigation into the bureau's failure to deliver the 'full set' of the Epstein files and a two-week-long investigation launched into why her orders were not followed. The FBI director took to X and wrote: 'There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. 'If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them.'
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Democrat on release of Epstein files: ‘Not a good day for the administration'
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said the confusion surrounding Thursday's release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein proved to be a sour day for the White House. 'It was not a good day for the administration. If you look at the traffic online over the Epstein release, I have never seen the left and the right come together in a moment on the debacle of what the Epstein files contained,' Moskowitz said Thursday on CNN's 'News Night.' Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt provided 15 internet influencers with a white binder 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1' on Thursday afternoon. The move sparked internet backlash from both conservative and liberal writers with large followings who condemned the White House for not publicly sharing the files as promised. Hours later, the Department of Justice released flight logs and other documents related to Epstein and urged FBI Director Kash Patel to present more evidence Friday morning. The documents released Thursday contained little new information on Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019. 'There is one person who takes the blame for what happened today. It's @PamBondi. I think she should resign,' Laura Loomer, a far right internet personality wrote in a Thursday night post on X. 'She went on Fox News and said the files were on her desk. Then she went on Fox News last night and said we would have files today. She is a total liar. Just face it.' Loomer also said individuals invited to the White House were told not to disclose Bondi's involvement in distributing binders with information that pertained to Epstein's circle. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who created a task force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, also raised concerns with the White House's decision to disseminate information to a small group of people before lawmakers. 'I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein's phonebook,' Luna wrote in a Thursday post on the social platform X. 'THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!' However, Luna said in a separate post that she believed Bondi was putting herself 'at risk' by working to release the files and protect the identity of victims. The attorney general reiterated her intent to share the contents of files in a Thursday statement. 'This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump's commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,' Bondi said. 'The first phase of files released today sheds light on Epstein's extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Longtime Epstein Watchers Reacted to the Release of the ‘Epstein Files'
A binder bearing the seal of the U.S. Justice Department and titled 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1' is held up outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 27, 2025. Credit - Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images Internet users were incensed on Thursday after a much anticipated but ultimately disappointing public release of records related to the late financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein didn't yield the clear, damning list of names many right-wing influencers had been expecting. 'The #Epsteinfiles are a total joke,' conservative political commentator Glenn Beck posted on X, reflecting widespread sentiment. 'I know [FBI Director] Kash [Patel], [Attorney General] Pam B[ondi] and The President. This is not the file. [The White House] tells me that they believe the usual suspects FBI/SDNY has the actual #EpsteinClientList and are refusing to turn it over.' But longtime close watchers of Epstein and his legal ordeal made the case in a series of posts on X that such a list may never emerge. Julie K. Brown, the award-winning Miami Herald journalist known for her investigations into Epstein and his associates, asserted: 'There is no Jeffrey Epstein client list. Period. It's a figment of the internet's imagination—and a means to just slander people.' Brown noted that many of the names of people tied to Epstein are already known. 'This list has been public since 2015. All one has to do is Google it,' she said in one post. 'Epstein's black book was public so long ago that it's even on Amazon,' she said in another. Brown characterized the underwhelming release on Thursday as a 'smokescreen,' but she also said the government does have a known cache of files related to Epstein's cases that it hasn't made public and could. 'The FBI also has hundreds of other documents in its vault ( that are redacted. The Miami Herald and other media has repeatedly asked the FBI to justify these massive redactions and lift them so the public can judge for themselves how the case was handled.' Jacob Shamsian, Business Insider's legal correspondent who has also covered Epstein for years, made similar points. 'I should also point out that the 'Jeffrey Epstein client list' does not exist and makes no sense on multiple levels (you think he made a list???). But if Pam Bondi wants to prove me wrong, I welcome it,' he posted. Shamsian shared a thread outlining his previous reporting and explaining how much of what people are asking for has actually already been disclosed in years prior. 'The 'flight logs' people have asked about have been public for years. Business Insider even cleaned up the data, put it in a searchable format, and made infographics!' he said in one post. Like Brown, Shamsian also suggested that, while a 'list' may not exist, there are certainly many records that have yet to be made publicly available. 'They have tens of thousands of pages. They have pictures and probably video,' Shamsian posted. 'I would love it if the Justice Department published records the FBI seized when they arrested Epstein and raided his properties in 2019. I've filed FOIA requests for those records and have been denied. Hopefully, @AGPamBondi will make them public,' Shamsian said in another post, admitting, however, that he's 'cynical' it will happen. Brown also seemed cynical. 'You will never see the names of Epstein's clients. They came from all sides of the political spectrum—and the only thing they probably had in common was their ability to use their wealth to silence the truth,' she responded to a user on X. Both Brown and Shamsian suggested the pomp surrounding the release of Epstein-related records was a politically-motivated excuse for the Trump Administration to target the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the federal prosecutor's office that previously investigated Donald Trump. 'It looks like Pam Bondi will instead use the 'Epstein Files' vaporware as an excuse to fire a bunch of people from the FBI field office in New York,' Shamsian posted after the Attorney General sent a letter blaming the FBI for withholding records. 'After watching how Fox and MAGA influencers are spinning this Epstein fiasco today—that this may all be a set up to go after the SDNY,' Brown posted. 'It's not as much a distraction as it is an effort to discredit and 'investigate' the NY FBI office,' she also posted. Other social media users agreed with Brown and Shamsian about the likely nonexistence of an 'Epstein list.' Journalist and influencer Yashar Ali suggested in multiple posts that vexation with the media was misplaced, claiming that the demand for such a list—or similar files in other high-profile investigations such as the case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs—have been drummed up by a 'fantasy' of Trump supporters. 'Selfishly as a reporter who has long covered sexual misconduct it would be a goldmine,' Ali added. 'But sorry, you've been misled by people with power and knowledge. And people telling you the reality aren't involved in covering up, they're wanting you to come to grips with reality!' A.G. Hamilton, a pseudonymous commentator and licensed attorney, suggested that the idea of an 'Epstein list' was likely spun up as an attention grab, but has no basis in reality: 'Have you guys considered that there was never such a thing as an 'Epstein list' and some people played it up because a conspiracy that implicates a ton of powerful people has a lot of entertainment value?' Conservative talk show host Erick Erickson agreed, posting, 'Many people will be disappointed and convinced of a cover up because they believed the internet.' He added that much of the online discourse surrounding the so-called 'Epstein files' is the stuff of 'urban legends sprung to life on social media.' Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How the Released ‘Epstein Files' Disappointed
People carry binders bearing the Justice Department seal and titled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" outside the White House on Feb. 27, 2025. Credit - Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images Members of Congress and far-right influencers had been clamoring for the release of previously classified documents related to the late financier and alleged sex trafficker Jefferey Epstein since President Donald Trump, who had promised during his campaign that he would do so, took office. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday that Thursday would be the day they'd be waiting for. But after a group of far-right influencers were handed physical binders at the White House—a photo-op-style move some observers called a 'managed disclosure' and others described as 'tasteless'—people online waited for hours to get access to a digital version of the release. So when the X account for the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee posted: 'BREAKING: EPSTEIN FILES RELEASED,' followed by a link, users hoped it would lead them to the anticipated cache of documents. Instead, what clickers got was the music video for Rick Astley's 1987 hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up.' The prank—a nearly two-decade-old bait-and-switch meme known as 'rickrolling'—enraged observers and has since been taken down. 'Disgusting behavior,' posted Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.), who chairs a task force focused on transparency and declassifying federal materials. 'The amount of people hurt by Epstein is not a joke. Whoever posted this is going to get fired.' 'Just a stunning lack of judgment by the people responsible for this account,' said conservative political commentator Matt Walsh on X. 'Little kids were raped and this is how the GOP acts. These people are as guilty as the Epstein client list. This is why it's taken this long to get any progress,' another user posted. TIME has reached out to the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee for comment. The Justice Department eventually did publish the documents online, but it only led to more disappointment when reviewers found that the release was heavily redacted and included information that was already previously made available. Read More: The Biggest Names from Jeffrey Epstein's Unsealed Court Documents Responding to the lack of new information, Luna, the congresswoman, posted on X: 'THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!' Far-right activist Laura Loomer also raged: 'We were all lied to today,' and she called on Bondi to resign, labeling her a 'total liar.' Loomer said in another post: 'This is absurd. Everyone is laughing at the admin today.' Former MLB pitcher John Rocker, also a conservative, said on X: 'THE EPSTEIN FILE RELEASE TODAY WAS A SLAP IN THE FACE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.' On the other side of the political spectrum, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) referred to the redactions in a post on X. 'You were promised the full Epstein files. You got this,' he said, with a picture of a page of black lines. Other Republicans had more positive things to say. Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) thanked the Trump Administration for releasing the documents and 'shedding light on this darkness,' adding on X: 'Our hearts ache for the victims of this crime, and we stand alongside them in their quest for justice.' Before the release of the documents, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) said on X that she was 'proud' of the work of Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, and added: 'AG Bondi will release the documents only protecting victim's identity which is the right thing to do. AG Bondi is releasing today everything she currently has. AG Bondi and FBI Director Patel are doing a great job!' Bondi on Thursday claimed the FBI was withholding records she'd requested and instructed Patel to investigate as well as ordered the 'full and complete' files to be delivered to her by Friday. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AG Pam Bondi Releases 'The Epstein Files'
Political commentator Rogan O'Handley, a.k.a. DC Draino, and other unidentified people carrying binders bearing the seal of the U.S. Justice Department reading "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" walk out of the West Wing of the White House on Feb. 27, 2025. Credit - Jim Watson — AFP / GettyImages A group of conservative influencers left the White House on Thursday afternoon, all holding white binders emblazoned with the Department of Justice seal. Some of them held up the binders to the cameras, which showed that they were labeled 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1.' The unusual scene came just hours after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was confirmed earlier this month, vowed to release a cache of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bondi had promised that the files would include flight logs and the names of individuals involved, but she had cautioned that some information could not be disclosed due to the need to protect more than 250 victims. Read More: The Biggest Names from Jeffrey Epstein's Unsealed Court Documents A review of the released documents found that they included heavy redactions and mostly information that had been previously reported. While the binders appeared to be marked "declassified," questions remained as to whether they had ever been classified in the first place. The limited scope of the release drew criticism from some Republicans, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who leads a House GOP task force on government transparency. 'I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today … A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein's phonebook,' Luna tweeted. 'THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!' Among those carrying the binders outside the White House was political commentator Rogan O'Handley, known online as DC Draino, along with Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik, podcaster Liz Wheeler, and Jack Posobiec, among others. Bondi discussed the release of the documents in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, offering a glimpse of what might be included—though she stopped short of confirming whether new revelations would emerge from the files, beyond what the public already knew. Epstein's dark history, marked by his abuse of underage girls, has been extensively documented over the years, with multiple lawsuits, criminal dockets, and public disclosures laying bare the extent of his crimes. Read More: Democrats Grill AG Pick Pam Bondi Over Whether She Can Defy Trump In January 2024, a court unsealed a large batch of documents from the lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims. The materials released at that time, including police reports and victim testimonies, had already been publicly predatory behavior spanned more than a decade, with allegations dating back to the 1990s. He was accused of abusing hundreds of children, some as young as 14, in a sprawling operation allegedly involving high-profile individuals, including politicians, celebrities, and royalty. Epstein's death in 2019, ruled a suicide while in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial, only fueled conspiracy theories and renewed calls for transparency. Write to Nik Popli at
