The Epstein Sex Scandal Files Take a Turn: Michael Jackson Photos, Bill Clinton, and Trump Missing

The Epstein Sex Scandal Files Take a Turn:  Thousands of highly redacted papers pertaining to the late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public by the US Justice Department on Friday. These records largely highlighted former Democratic President Bill Clinton but hardly mentioned US President Donald Trump. Given that images and papers pertaining to Trump had been leaking out of earlier Epstein dumps for years, the lack of allusions to him was noteworthy.

For example, in a first batch of Epstein data disclosed by the Justice Department in February, flight manifests indicating passengers on Epstein’s private jet included Trump’s name. Despite the Republican president’s months-long efforts to keep the information secret, the partial release was meant to comply with legislation that was decisively enacted by Congress in November and required the revelation of all Epstein materials.

Trump, who had been spreading conspiracy theories about Epstein to his followers for years, has turned the story into a self-inflicted political wound. Given that several records pertaining to Epstein had already been made public since his 2019 death in prison, which was determined to be a suicide, it was not immediately apparent how significant the additional materials were. The Justice Department admitted that it was still going through hundreds of thousands of more pages for potential release, and many of the files were highly redacted—several records that were 100 pages or more were completely blacked out.

In response to an assault on US forces, the US military began airstrikes on Friday against dozens of Islamic State locations in Syria shortly after the publication. Along with pictures of Clinton that Republicans have long derided, the information included evidence from many investigations against Epstein. However, despite Trump and Epstein’s well-known acquaintance in the 1990s and early 2000s until they fell out before Epstein’s first conviction in 2008, they seemed to include few, if any, pictures of Trump or papers referencing him. Trump has denied knowing of Epstein’s misdeeds and has not been charged with any involvement.

This has nothing to do with Bill Clinton.
In an attempt to raise awareness of Clinton, two Justice Department representatives shared pictures of him with Epstein victims on social media. In a statement, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Angel Urena, said that by concentrating on the previous president, the White House was trying to “shield themselves” from criticism. “They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton,” he said.

In an apparent attempt to deflect attention from his personal contact with Epstein, Trump last month directed the Justice Department to look into Clinton’s connections to Epstein. Clinton is seen in a swimming pool with Maxwell and another person whose face is obscured in pictures that were made public on Friday.

Another picture shows him in a hot tub with what seems to be a blacked-out face. Clinton has previously said that he was not aware of any illegal behavior and apologized for his social interactions with Epstein. In a letter to Congress, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the identities of over 1,200 victims or their family members needed to be removed from the records.

In response to fresh Epstein papers, the White House
The White House criticized previous Democratic administrations for failing to do the same in a statement, saying the revelation showed its openness and dedication to justice for Epstein’s victims. However, once Trump officials said earlier this year that no more Epstein papers would be released to the public, the statement disregarded the fact that the disclosures only happened because Congress compelled the administration to do so.