US President Donald Trump’s Justice Department announced on Friday that it will release only a partial set of documents related to its investigation into convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, an issue that has sparked the first major split between Trump’s Make America Great Again support base since he returned to office.
The department was compelled by Congress to make the documents public after it passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, a law that required the disclosure of all documents within 30 days, except for those that could jeopardise current investigations, harm national security or foreign policy goals, or reveal information about Epstein’s victims.
“I expect several hundred thousand more” in the next “couple of months”, United States Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News earlier on Friday.
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The release follows months of pressure that Trump and others in his orbit had helped to build before the US leader began downplaying the material. The department issued a memo in July, claiming there was no Epstein client list or conspiracy, as some – including outgoing deputy FBI director Dan Bongino – had insisted earlier.
“While we have laboured to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”, the memo said.
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Trump arrives in UK for state visit, is greeted by Epstein protests
Trump arrives in UK for state visit, is greeted by Epstein protests
Some Republican lawmakers – most notably Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, formerly a staunch Trump ally – joined Democrats in voting for the Epstein transparency bill.