US authorities have found greater than 1,000,000 extra paperwork doubtlessly associated to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that they plan to launch within the coming days and weeks, officers say.
The US Lawyer for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have knowledgeable the Division of Justice (DoJ) concerning the discovery and turned over the paperwork for attorneys to overview.
“We now have attorneys working across the clock to overview and make the legally required redactions to guard victims, and we’ll launch the paperwork as quickly as doable,” the DoJ stated on social media on Wednesday.
The division stated that given the quantity of fabric, the method may take “just a few extra weeks”.
The company stated it will “proceed to completely adjust to federal legislation and President Trump’s path to launch the recordsdata”.
The assertion didn’t specify how the FBI and New York prosecutors got here throughout the extra materials.
The information comes after the justice division launched hundreds of paperwork final week – some closely redacted – associated to their investigations into Epstein.
The recordsdata had been launched after Congress handed the Epstein Information Transparency Act – signed into legislation by US President Donald Trump – that ordered the company to share all of the paperwork with the general public whereas defending victims’ identities.
Most of the paperwork launched final week had names and different data blacked out, together with names of individuals the FBI seems to quote as doable co-conspirators within the Epstein case.
The justice division has confronted criticism from lawmakers on each side of the aisle over the quantity of redactions, which the legislation permits solely to guard victims’ identities and energetic prison investigations.
The legislation handed by Congress and signed final month by Trump states that names and data that may be embarrassing or trigger “reputational hurt” aren’t allowed to be redacted.
It particularly asks the DoJ for inside communications and memos detailing who was investigated and selections on whether or not “to cost, not cost, examine, or decline to research Epstein or his associates”.
Included within the first launch of paperwork had been emails showing to be exchanged between FBI personnel in 2019 that point out 10 doable “co-conspirators” of Epstein.
The emails stated six of the group had been served with subpoenas. This included three in Florida, one in Boston, one in New York Metropolis, and one in Connecticut.
Potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s crimes are a significant focus for his victims, and for a number of lawmakers who’ve demanded extra transparency from the justice division.
Earlier releases of Epstein paperwork have included revelations that reverberated throughout the Atlantic. Peter Mandelson was sacked because the UK’s ambassador to the US after particulars emerged about his friendship with the convicted paedophile, and that he informed Epstein “I believe the world of you”, the day earlier than Epstein started his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Lord Mandelson stated in a letter to workers that “I deeply remorse” the circumstances of his departure from the British embassy in Washington DC. He stated being ambassador had been “the privilege of my life” and he continued “to really feel totally terrible about my affiliation with Epstein twenty years in the past and the plight of his victims”.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor misplaced his ‘prince’ title and was requested to depart his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, following weeks of intense scrutiny over his hyperlinks to Epstein following a doc launch in October.
Within the newest launch on Tuesday, a 2001 electronic mail despatched by an individual recognized as “A” from “Balmoral” to Epstein’s confederate and shut affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell – who was sentenced to twenty years in jail in 2022 for intercourse trafficking of minors and different offences- asks: “Have you ever discovered me some new inappropriate mates?”
The BBC has contacted Andrew’s group for a response. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and stated he didn’t “see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the kind that subsequently led to his [Epstein’s] arrest and conviction”.
