Survivors of Epstein’s abuse condemn justice department for only partly releasing files | Jeffrey Epstein
Representatives of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s victims on Friday condemned the U.S. Department of Justice for only partially releasing investigative documents; At least one survivor said he felt “saved” by the documents.
Documents were published in accordance with the law Epstein Files Transparency ActIt required that statements be made by December 19. The law allows records to be withheld if they threaten existing investigations, impair national security or identify Epstein’s victims.
However, the first explanation did not seem to comply with this law. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the justice department would not release all of its files on Friday, despite the deadline, and that the files released Friday afternoon did not appear comprehensive. “I expect we will be releasing more documents in the next few weeks,” Blanche told Fox News. report.
Top lawmakers responded by threatening legal action “in response to this violation of federal law.”
Spencer Kuvin, an attorney representing Epstein’s survivors, said in a statement after the release that it was “not a big surprise” that the justice department failed to meet the deadline.
“Unfortunately, the Department of Justice has dragged its feet on these documents for the last 18 years, so victims don’t expect much in the way of openness or honesty,” Kuvin said. “These young women have been lied to and repeatedly denied justice by the system meant to protect them. The public needs to demand more and continue to demand accountability.”
Attorney Gloria Allred represented More than 20 Epstein survivors told CNN following the announcement that the justice department had repeatedly failed the victims.
“This administration has been resistant to the release of the Epstein files,” he said. “The question is: Is there a cover-up? What are they hiding? What is there that some powerful people wouldn’t want exposed?… Survivors are fighting for all the files to be released. [because] They want responsibility. If there are rich, powerful, famous men involved, aiding or conspiring in the sex trafficking of underage girls, they want to know who these people are. “They want to know what the evidence is against them.”
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels is pushing for disclosure. in question About MS He was now “extremely emotional”, but he was glad that the justice department’s cover-ups were now so clearly visible to the public: “I also feel oddly validated, because openly, and even by an act of Congress, we are seeing the same delays, omissions, corruption, incompetence that we have consistently seen and defended. So they have actually proven our point.”
But Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein survivor Maria Farmer, said in an email shortly after the files were released that the fact that some of them were finally made public was “a day of triumph and tragedy for Maria and so many survivors.”
He said records confirm that Farmer reported the crimes of Epstein and his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell to the FBI in 1996.
“If the government had done its job and properly investigated Maria’s report, more than 1,000 victims could have been saved and 30 years of trauma could have been prevented,” Farmer said. “After requesting his records for several years, the government finally released at least some of them today.” Freeman highlighted a document from the files that he said corroborated Farmer’s original complaint.
Freeman read a statement on Farmer’s behalf on CNN: “Thank you for believing in me. I feel redeemed. This is one of the best days of my life. Of course, this is compounded by the fact that I am devastated for all the other girls… who were harmed because the FBI did not do their job… I cry tears of joy for myself, but I also cry tears of sadness for all the victims.”
Farmer, an artist, was among the first to report sexual crimes to Epstein and Maxwell in the 1990s.
Trump signed the law mandating the release of the Epstein files after months of hesitation about releasing them. Although Trump promised to release these files during the campaign, the justice department has repeatedly failed to fulfill this promise and released largely documents that were already public.
Ministry of Justice faced reaction announced In July, he stated that he did not have a list of Epstein’s clients and claimed: “Although we have endeavored to provide the public with maximum information about Epstein and to ensure that all evidence in the government’s possession has been reviewed, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are determined that further disclosure would not be appropriate or necessary.”
Wall StreetJournal reported The president’s name appears at several points in these files. Trump has denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes and has emphatically denied any wrongdoing.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said: “It’s not news that Epstein was a member of the Mar-a-Lago club, because that’s the same club from which Donald Trump kicked out Epstein for being a creep.” “These stories are tired and pathetic attempts to distract from all the success of President Trump’s administration.”
Lauren Hersh, national director of the anti-trafficking nonprofit World Exploitation, said before the revelations: “There are hundreds of thousands of files to review, which shows just how horrific Epstein’s crimes truly were.”
“We want to make sure our government operates in good faith, that survivors are protected, those who cause harm are exposed, and that the wheels of justice move quickly,” Hersh added. “The public is long overdue for seeing the depth of pain and injustice.”
