The US Department of Justice has released thousands of documents and new photos from the Jeffrey Epstein files.
According to BBC, the Trump administration on Friday, December 19, released the long-awaited files from the investigation into late sex offender Epstein.
The newly released documents also included never-before-seen images of several high-profile people, including former US President Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson, Richard Branson, Peter Mandelson, Chris Tucker, and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.
However, it was noted that one of the prominent figures who was long associated with the convicted sex offender Epstein, US President Donald Trump, has “hardly been mentioned in these files.”
The first Epstein files release from the DOJ has sparked a reaction from the congressional Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "Simply releasing a mountain of blacked-out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law."
Moreover, Representative Ro Khanna, who co-authored the bill that demanded the release of files, argued that Friday’s release "does not comply" with the law, calling it an "incomplete release with too many redactions."
California Representative Ted Lieu accused the Justice Department and the attorney general of "wilfully violating federal law" and demanded an immediate oversight committee hearing.
Meanwhile, DOJ explained that the files contain a number of redactions as part of being extremely cautious not to identify victims.
Epstein introduced Trump to a 14-year-old girl:
A court document made public by the Department of Justice revealed that Epstein allegedly introduced a 14-year-old girl to Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1990.
The document says Epstein elbowed Trump and “playfully asked him”, in reference to the girl, “This is a good one, right?” The US president smiled and agreed.
However, in the court filing, the victim accused Epstein of abusing her over the years and made no allegations against Trump.
