"The justice department's partial release of the Epstein files on Friday signaled how the agency is using a variety of tactics to try to bury and obfuscate Donald Trump's connection to Jeffrey Epstein. As the department raced towards a legally mandated Friday deadline to release its files, little emerged about what it planned to release. There never really seemed to be a doubt that the department would release the files late on Friday afternoon,"
"Then, on Friday morning, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, went on Fox News to say that the department wouldn't actually be releasing all of the files on Friday as required by the law. I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today, several hundred thousand, and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more, Blanche said on Fox News."
"By the time the department eventually did release thousands of pages of materials on Friday evening not the hundreds of thousands Blanche promised - many of the documents had been heavily or completely redacted. Other than a few pictures, the materials made no mention of Trump, even though attorney general Pam Bondi reportedly told Trump earlier this year his name was in the files."
The Justice Department timed a partial release of Epstein files to coincide with a Friday deadline and used late-afternoon publication to reduce attention. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News the department would produce hundreds of thousands of documents over weeks and emphasized victim protection. The department released thousands of pages instead, with many documents heavily or fully redacted and only a few pictures. The released materials largely omitted mention of Donald Trump despite reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump his name appeared in the files. The administration combined pressure from its MAGA base to release files with a slow, rolling disclosure strategy during a holiday period to limit public scrutiny and embarrassment.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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