US President Donald Trump’s administration is facing a Friday deadline to release decades of government secrets on notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the latest milestone in the long-running effort to uncover the full extent of his network.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) must release by December 19 its vast cache of records on the late financier’s sex-trafficking empire, which was alleged to have entangled underage girls and brushed against the world’s elite.
For the public, the release offers the clearest opportunity yet to lift the veil on one of the century’s most enduring scandals – although transparency advocates caution that key details may still be withheld under government claims of legal constraint.
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For Trump – who has faced questions over his own close friendship with Epstein – things could get awkward.
The financier – who died in custody after his 2019 arrest – moved in elite circles for years. He cultivated ties with tycoons, politicians, academics and celebrities to whom he was accused of trafficking hundreds of girls and young women for sex.
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Trump and his allies long alleged that powerful Democrats and Hollywood liberals were being shielded from accountability for their involvement, framing the case as proof of how power hides behind lawyers and money.