US govt to release Epstein files within 30 days: Bondi
Attorney-General Pam Bondi pledges to “follow the law and to encourage maximum transparency”, as Epstein files remain thorn in President Trump’s side.
Source: MS Now
The US Justice Department will release files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney-General Pam Bondi says.
It follows the US Congress’s near unanimous vote to force President Donald Trump’s administration to make the documents public.
The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialised with Trump and other notable figures before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The scandal has been a thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.
Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which New York City’s medical examiner called a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.
On Wednesday (US time), Bondi confirmed the Justice Department will release its Epstein-related material within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday.
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“We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency,” she said.
But that release may not be comprehensive, as the agency may have to hold back material that could affect Trump-ordered investigations of Democratic figures who associated with Epstein.
The bill requires the release within 30 days of all files and communications related to Epstein as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.
The department also will protect the identities of any sex-trafficking victims whose names appear in the documents, she said.
Harvard University was poised to open a probe into individuals mentioned in the Epstein files recently released by Congress, a university spokesperson said on Wednesday. The documents showed a close relationship between former US Treasury secretary and the university’s former president, Larry Summers, and Epstein.
“The university is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted,” Harvard spokesman Jason Newton said in an email on Wednesday.
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Newton did not mention Summers by name.
Harvard’s review thrusts one of the world’s most prestigious universities into the scandal surrounding Epstein’s network of powerful associates. It follows days of public pressure after the documents detailed Summers’ extensive correspondence with the financier.
The Harvard Crimson, a newspaper run by Harvard students, first reported the news on Tuesday.
Summers, now a professor at the university, told the newspaper on Monday that he would step back from all public commitments, days after Trump ordered the US Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein.
Trump has repeatedly said he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes.
Summers also resigned from the OpenAI board, he said on Wednesday.
The US House Oversight Committee released thousands of files related to Epstein last Wednesday, including documents that showed personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein.
The university investigation will look into all other Harvard affiliates mentioned in the documents released by the House, including Summers’ wife and nearly a dozen other Harvard affiliates, past and present, the Crimson said.
The probe will cover any new information revealed in the files, including hundreds of messages Summers and Epstein exchanged over women, politics and Harvard-related initiatives, it said.
-with AAP
