US govt to release Epstein files within 30 days: Bondi
The U.S. Justice Department will release investigative files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, after Congress voted almost unanimously to force President Donald Trump’s administration to make them public.
The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialized with Trump and other VIPs before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The scandal has dogged Trump for months, in part because Trump promoted conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.
Many Trump voters believe his administration covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and concealed details about the New York City medical examiner’s death, which he described as a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
At a news conference, Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department would release its Epstein-related materials within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate on Tuesday.
“We will continue to comply with the law and promote maximum transparency,” he said.
But this statement may not be comprehensive because the agency may be forced to withhold material that could affect investigations ordered by Trump into Democratic figures with ties to Epstein.
The bill requires the release of all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information related to the investigation into his death in federal prison, within 30 days.
He said the ministry will also protect the identities of sex trafficking victims named in the documents.
Harvard University is preparing to launch an investigation into people named in the Epstein files recently released by Congress, after documents showed a close relationship between former president Larry Summers and Epstein, a university spokesman said Wednesday.
“The University is reviewing information about individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted,” Harvard spokesman Jason Newton said in an email Wednesday. he said.
Newton did not mention Summers’ name.
Harvard’s review thrusts one of the world’s most prestigious universities into the scandal surrounding Epstein’s powerful network of business associates and follows days of public pressure after documents detailing Summers’ extensive correspondence with the financier.
The Harvard Crimson, a newspaper run by Harvard students, first reported the news on Tuesday.
Summers, the former president of Harvard, where he is now a professor, told the newspaper on Monday that he would back off any public commitments after Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein.
Trump said he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes.
Summers, the former U.S. Treasury secretary, also resigned from OpenAI’s board on Wednesday, he said.
The House Oversight Committee last Wednesday released thousands of files related to Epstein, including documents showing personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein.
The university investigation will examine all other Harvard affiliates named in documents released by the House, including Summers’ wife and about a dozen other Harvard affiliates past and present, the Crimson said.
It was stated that the investigation will cover any new information revealed in the files, including hundreds of messages Summers and Epstein shared about women, politics and Harvard-related initiatives.
with AP
