Jeffrey Epstein files set for DOJ release on Friday

Ministry of Justice We face a legally mandated deadline on Friday to begin releasing criminal investigation files on notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The order to release the files follows months of controversy over the Trump administration’s decision to renege on past promises that senior law enforcement officials would publicly release documents and other evidence.

In November, Congress voted overwhelmingly to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, and President Donald Trump signed the legislation.

Trump, who had been friends with Epstein for years before the two men fell out in the early 2000s, described demands to release the files as a “hoax” by Democrats.

But some of the leading voices advocating for the documents to be made public were his fellow Republicans.

Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has denied knowledge of Epstein’s serial sexual abuse of underage girls and young women over the years.

The files planned to be released relate to federal investigations of Epstein that have been conducted over the years.

The first of these investigations ended in 2008, when a person under the age of 18 in Florida pleaded guilty to state charges of prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Epstein, 66, was arrested by federal authorities in July 2019 on child sex trafficking charges.

He killed himself weeks later in a Manhattan jail.

Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was indicted the following year on charges related to recruiting and training underage girls to sexually abuse her for Epstein.

Maxwell was found guilty at a 2021 trial and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

This is developing news. Check back for updates.