Victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein on Monday added to growing criticism of the Trump administration over delays and extensive redactions in the release of records tied to the investigation into his alleged sex crimes.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed almost unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump, required the full release of the Epstein files by the end of last week.
However, the Trump administration’s Justice Department has so far made public only a single batch of documents. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has attributed the delay to the need to carefully redact the identities of more than 1,000 Epstein victims.
In a statement, a group of Epstein victims said just a "fraction" of the records had been disclosed and that "what we recieved was riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation."
"We are told that there are hundreds of thousands of pages of documents still unreleased," they said in remarks carried by US media. "These are clear cut violations of an unambiguous law."
"At the same time, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm," the group added.
Lawmakers have also stepped up pressure on the administration. EFTA co-sponsors Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Republican, warned over the weekend that they could pursue contempt of Congress proceedings against Attorney General Pam Bondi for failing to comply with the law.
Separately, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday introduced a resolution seeking legal action against the Trump administration over the incomplete release of the Epstein files.
"Instead of transparency, the Trump administration released a tiny fraction of the files and blacked out massive portions of what little they provided," Schumer said in a statement.
"This is a blatant cover-up. Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche are shielding Donald Trump from accountability, and the Senate has a duty to act."
'We need no such protection'
Blanche denied on Sunday that the Justice Department was redacting the files to protect the president, a formerly close friend of Epstein, a convicted sex offender with connections to the rich and powerful.
"We are not redacting information around President Trump," Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Blanche said one picture of Trump was briefly removed over concerns for victims. It was reposted after the Justice Department determined there was "no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted."
Trump initially tried to block the disclosure of the files linked to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in what was ruled a suicide.
The president, who cut ties with Epstein years before his arrest and faces no accusations of wrongdoing, finally bowed to mounting pressure from Congress and signed the law compelling publication of the files.
The files released last week included several photographs of former Democratic president Bill Clinton.
Clinton, in a statement released by his spokesman Angel Urena, urged the Justice Department on Monday to release any materials in the files related to the former president, saying he had nothing to hide.
"Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection," Clinton said.
"The Department of Justice's actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice," he added.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the disgraced financier.
(With inputs from AFP)
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