WASHINGTON: Victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday (Dec 20) expressed anger after a long-awaited cache of records from cases against him were released with many pages blacked-out and photos censored.
The trove of material released by the US Justice Department included photographs of former president Bill Clinton and other famous names in Epstein’s social circle, including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.
But blackouts of many of the documents – combined with control over the release by officials in President Donald Trump’s administration – fuelled allegations of a high-level cover-up.
Democrats on Saturday demanded answers after one image that included a photo of Trump was no longer visible in the Justice Department’s online release.
“If they’re taking this down, just imagine how much more they’re trying to hide,” said senior Democrat Chuck Schumer. “This could be one of the biggest cover-ups in American history.”
Among scores of blacked-out sections, one 119-page document labeled “Grand Jury-NY” was entirely redacted.
One Epstein survivor, Jess Michaels, said she spent hours combing the documents to find her victim’s statement and communication from when she had called an FBI tip line.
“I can’t find any of those,” she told CNN. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.”
Even so, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier’s intimate ties to the rich, famous and powerful – Trump, once a close friend, among them.
At least one file contains dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures. Previously unseen photographs of disgraced former prince Andrew show him lying across the legs of five women.
Other pictures show Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out, and swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
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