"In an interview Friday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged that not everything would be ready by the deadline. Even the partial release was flawed. As my colleague Charlie Warzel reported, the first tranche is full of extensive redactions. Although Congress required by law that the documents be released in a searchable form online, the function wasn't working right. The materials released on Friday included many references to and photos of former President Bill Clinton but conspicuously few inclusions of President Donald Trump, who was once a close friend of Epstein's. Then, on Saturday, at least 16 documents initially included in the dump were suddenly removed. (At least one, including a photo with Trump in it, has been reinstated.)"
"Good explanations might exist for all of these things. Processing such a huge number of documents-hundreds of thousands, according to the DOJ-is a huge challenge under any circumstances, and these files are especially sensitive because they likely contain information about underage victims of sex crimes. Congress also granted the DOJ discretion to withhold documents related to ongoing investigations. Blanche said yesterday that the DOJ would not redact any information relating to Trump."
The Justice Department failed to meet the legal deadline to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein and produced a partial release that contained extensive redactions and technical problems. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged that not all materials would be ready, and the searchable-online function required by law was not working properly. The released tranche contained many references and photos of Bill Clinton but few inclusions of Donald Trump, and at least 16 documents were later removed, with one reinstated. The volume and sensitivity of hundreds of thousands of documents, plus discretion for ongoing investigations, complicate processing, while some members of Congress may pursue contempt proceedings over incomplete disclosure.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]