Distraction from the ICE shootings/Budget fight?
[BBC] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) released over three million pages of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday - this latest release included over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
As he announced the new release, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended missing the deadline to publish the files, saying there were "two Eiffel Towers" of documents reviewed to redact anything which could risk identifying the victims.
We've been looking through the documents, here's what we've found so far:
- President Trump's name does again appear in today's release. There are a number of allegations about him in one document from an FBI tip line, investigators at the time said the allegations were not credible. The White House has directed reporters to the part of the DOJ announcement as containing "untrue and sensationalist" allegations against Trump
- Another set of emails released today suggest that Epstein offered to introduce someone using an account named "The Duke" to a 26-year-old Russian woman - the person responding to the offer signs off the email as "A". The exchange is dated 11-12 August 2010, one month after Epstein was released from prison after being convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl in Florida
- The tranche includes a document on Epstein's time in prison and the circumstances surrounding his death - it alleges Epstein "preferred not to have a cellmate" and "engaged in manipulative behaviour to avoid having one
- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has responded to lurid allegations against him in today's release – including that he caught a sexually transmitted disease – calling them "absolutely absurd and completely false".
- Epstein sent £10,000 to Peter Mandelson's partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva in 2009, according to files released today. Asked for a response, Lord Mandelson said he had been "very clear" about his relationship with Epstein in interviews with the BBC. "I have nothing more to add," said the Labour peer
- The files include Maxwell's registration into the Joint Automated Booking System, which is used to register alleged offenders once they have been arrested
Epstein was associated with many well-known figures, and being named in files related to the disgraced financier is not an indication of wrongdoing by any of the parties mentioned.
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