WASHINGTON, DEC 21 — The Justice Department’s long-awaited release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents is facing renewed scrutiny after key records — including FBI interviews with victims and internal prosecutorial memos — were found to be missing from the initial disclosures.
The document dump, spanning tens of thousands of pages and mandated under a recently passed law, has so far yielded limited new information about Epstein’s crimes or the decisions that allowed him in 2008 to plead guilty to a minor state prostitution charge instead of facing federal prosecution.
Absent from the release are FBI interviews with survivors and Justice Department analyses of charging decisions — materials that could have shed light on how investigators assessed the case and why Epstein avoided harsher consequences.
The gaps extend further. Several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, are barely mentioned in the records, renewing questions about who was scrutinized and who was not.
Among the limited new revelations were details about the Justice Department’s decision to abandon a federal investigation into Epstein in the early 2000s and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing him of stealing photographs of children.
The records released so far include extensive images of Epstein’s properties in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as photographs of celebrities and politicians. There were numerous previously unseen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but relatively few involving Donald Trump.
Neither Clinton nor Trump has been accused of criminal conduct related to Epstein, and officials said there was no indication that any of the images played a role in Epstein’s prosecutions.
The Justice Department acknowledged it missed a Friday deadline set by Congress to release all materials, saying the delay stemmed from the need to protect victims’ identities. The department has not said when additional records will be made public.
The unexplained removal of some files from the public website has further fueled concerns that the disclosures fall short of delivering meaningful public accountability.
