Dem
47
GOP
53
We did our write-up of the first tranche of Epstein files on Saturday. Now let's take a look at how others saw it:
The New York Times:An executive summary of the above is this: In violation of the law, only a small fraction of the files were released. Many of the documents were already out there and the new ones were largely uninformative or heavily redacted (Black Lines Matter--thank you, J.S.). The only person who came up a lot is Bill Clinton. People who were demanding all the files are not impressed at all.
In other words, the DoJ is stonewalling and hoping all the fuss will go away. By featuring Bill Clinton and other celebrities, the message they are trying to send is "Everybody and his uncle was involved with Epstein—except Donald Trump and other high-ranking Republicans." The fact that so many celebrities, including newly revealed ones like Richard Branson, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Kevin Spacey, and Chris Tucker, were in Epstein's orbit does raise a question, though: Why were so many famous people hanging around with a small-time financier and big-time sex predator? What was so attractive about him?
Here is one of the Clinton photos. He is swimming with Ghislaine Maxwell and a third person (blacked out) who is likely a minor and an Epstein victim. At least all three are wearing bathing suits in this photo. Maybe they waited until the photographer was gone before ditching them:
Congress really needs to hold hearings and ask the folks mentioned in the files (under oath) what they knew about Epstein and what made him so popular. It would also be interesting to have Jamie Dimon, who is vastly richer and more powerful than Epstein, testify to ask him if he also has an Oort cloud of famous celebrities revolving about him all the time. Maybe it is normal for large numbers of A-list celebs to hang out with rich high-profile financiers all the time. Or was Epstein different from the usual boring banker in some way? Inquiring minds want to know.
One noteworthy photo is of a handwritten note that reads: "I have a female for him." Who was the caller and who is meant by "him?" The note was to Epstein. If the missed call was from Ghislaine Maxwell to Epstein and she had just located a new female for Epstein, the note would have read: "I have a female for YOU." But it says "him," implying that whoever located the female was apparently taking special orders for other men. Who? Here is the note:
But even the meager first dump, which was carefully scrubbed to limit Trump's exposure, was apparently too much for Trump. Shortly after the files went up, at least 16 photos were taken down from the website, including one with Donald Trump in it. No explanation was given for the removal. This is giving rise to more people saying: "What is he hiding?" In fact, the removal has become a mini-story unto itself here, here, here, and here, among many other news sites.
Among the files that are still up there, over 550 pages are completely blacked out. The law provided for very limited redaction, basically to protect the victims and to avoid undermining ongoing criminal cases. Blacking out 550 pages in their entirety was not what the law called for. When reporters began complaining about this, the DoJ said: "Documents and photos will continue to be reviewed consistent with the law and with an abundance of caution for victims and their families." They are full of it. There is no way 550 pages are just listings of victims' names. There were a lot of victims, but not enough to fill 550 pages. There is clearly a lot of material the DoJ does not want released and is not going to release, law or no law. They think that releasing all the pages but blacking out the ones they don't like will prevent the courts from ordering them to release all the files, as required by the law.
The DoJ has promised more files later on. A few more came out Saturday. However, this drip, drip, drip release of a few files a day is not working. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted: "People are raging and walking away." Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said Friday's dump "grossly fails to comply with the spirit and the letter of the law." Also, after Friday's dump, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) tweeted: "RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES." Saturday morning, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said: "I want to hear from MAGA voters who have stood for transparency on the Epstein files. Are you satisfied with the excessive redactions & missing 60-count draft indictment? Or do you want Bondi & Blanchard [sic; he probably meant Deputy AG Todd Blanche] to release the docs that will hold the Epstein class accountable?"
Khanna and Massie went on Face the Nation yesterday and complained loudly about the DoJ stonewalling them. When asked if the DoJ was obeying the law, Massie said: "No, they're flouting the spirit AND the letter of the law. It's very troubling the posture that they've taken." Khanna and Massie are drafting articles of impeachment against AG Pam Bondi for openly violating the law. Who said bipartisanship is dead? These two seem to get along just fine.
Nevertheless, a few people were happy with the paltry Friday dump. Maria Farmer, an artist who worked for Epstein, took nude photos of her sister Annie for her artwork. She has claimed that Epstein stole the photos and the negatives and sold them. Epstein also abused Annie when she was 16. Maria reported these incidents to the FBI but there was no response. No one believed that she had reported these crimes to the FBI and they did nothing. The article from The Guardian linked to just above gives more detail on Maxwell's and Epstein's modus operandi and what Epstein did to Annie. It is definitely relevant but we would rather not print it. On Friday, Maria's complaint to the FBI was in one of the documents released, confirming that she has been telling the truth all along. If the FBI had acted on her complaint, thousands of victims would have been spared. Did someone high up give an order to ignore Maria Farmer's complaint? Who? Why? The dump is raising more questions than it is answering.
If you want to download the files yourself, here is a place to start. But be warned, nothing is indexed (although some media outlets are working on indexing). (V)