US Attorney General Pam Bondi has released government documents related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But the first wave of files posted on the Justice Department website have largely been circulating in the public domain for years and did not include any new bombshells about the sex trafficking case that has been a favourite subject of conspiracy theorists.
The small batch of documents included copies of flight logs from Epstein’s private plane, which have long been available in multiple court cases, and a heavily redacted photocopy of an address book purportedly compiled by Epstein and his long-time confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, which has been cited in media accounts for many years.
The Justice Department also released a blacked-out list of masseuses and an evidence list showing entries for more than 150 items, including nude images, massage tables, sex toys and other items.
Conservative political commentator Rogan O’Handley, also known as DC Draino, from left, and social media content creator Chaya Raichik, hold up binders with a cover titled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1 (AP/Ben Curtis)
There was no indication whether the list was from Epstein’s case, Maxwell’s case or some other investigation.
Ms Bondi had teased the documents during a Fox News appearance on Wednesday, declaring: “Breaking news right now: You’re going to see some Epstein information released.”
The Justice Department said it was making the documents public to show its commitment to transparency.
President Donald Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested in 2019, suggested while campaigning last year that he would seek to open up the government’s files.
The documents were first given to political commentators at the White House hours earlier in binders that read “The Epstein Files: Phase I”.
But the Justice Department did not post them on its website until hours later, along with a note downplaying their significance.
“The first phase of declassified files largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US Government,” it read.
The documents are unlikely to satisfy online sleuths eager for fresh details about Epstein’s crimes and his connections to famous people, which have long been the subject of intense media scrutiny.
The lack of new information drew criticism even from some conservatives.
“GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!” Representative Anna Paulina Luna wrote on social media, calling the rollout a “complete disappointment.”
On Thursday, Ms Bondi suggested in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that more records were recently discovered.
She ordered the FBI to hand over “the full and complete Epstein files” to her by Friday morning, and directed Patel to “conduct an immediate investigation” into why her order to the FBI to turn over all documents was not followed.
Mr Patel vowed in a post on X to ensure that all documents are provided to Justice Department leadership.
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
President Donald Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested, suggested while campaigning last year that he would seek to open up the government’s files.
Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in the early 2000s but wound up serving just 13 months in jail.
He was indicted on federal charges in New York in 2019, more than a decade after he secretly struck a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of similar charges of sex trafficking.
The case has drawn widespread attention because of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s links to royals, presidents and billionaires. Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News.
Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein’s criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests.
In January 2024, a court unsealed the final batch of a trove of documents that had been collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
Much of the material, including transcripts of victim interviews and old police reports, had already been publicly known.