The Japan Times - US House committee releases batch of 'Epstein files'

More than 33,000 pages of records related to Epstein were uploaded to a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website after being handed over by the Justice Department.

"We're in the process of uploading those documents for full transparency so everyone in America can see those documents," committee chairman James Comer said.

"It's going as quick as we can get them uploaded," Comer told reporters. "We want those to be public as soon as possible."

Comer's committee had subpoenaed the Justice Department for the documents and a first batch of records was turned over last month.

It was not immediately clear what is new in the batch of documents released on Tuesday. Thousands of pages of documents related to the Epstein investigation have been released previously.

The House committee said in a statement that it expects to receive more records from the Justice Department and they are being redacted to protect "victim identities" and remove "any child sexual abuse material."

Epstein, a wealthy financier with high-level connections, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls recruited to provide him with sexual massages.

President Donald Trump was once a friend of Epstein and, according to The Wall Street Journal, the president's name was among hundreds found during a Justice Department review of the Epstein files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.

Trump's supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that "Deep State" elites were protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood -- but not Trump.

Those supporters have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said in July that Epstein had committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a "client list."

The Justice Department released a transcript last month of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of Epstein, in which she said Trump was friendly with the convicted sex offender but was "never inappropriate with anybody."

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein, was interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer.

The 63-year-old Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate convicted in connection with his activities, was moved from a prison in Florida to a minimum security facility in Texas following the interview with Blanche.

T.Sasaki--JT