Pam Bondi began ‘phase one’ of releasing the long-awaited, mysterious files related to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein Thursday evening.
The first wave of documents have largely been circulating in the public domain for years and so far are yet to include any new bombshells.
‘What you’re going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information,’ Bondi previewed on Fox Wednesday.
‘But, it’s pretty sick what that man did, along with his co-defendant,’ referring to Ghislaine Maxwell.
The officially declassified material included flight logs, Epstein’s infamous contact book, an evidence list and a masseuse list in ten different links posted to the Department of Justice website.
The contact list, which has previously circulated in various forms, shows redacted information for dozens of the Hollywood, political and fashion elite and was purportedly compiled by Epstein and his longtime confidante Maxwell. Personal contact information was redacted throughout the list.
Names who are in the address book include Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, actor Alec Baldwin, Ethel Kennedy, Andrew Cuomo, Naomi Campbell and Courtney Love.
Both Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the late Senator Ted Kennedy; actor Ralph Fiennes, Alan Dershowitz; John Kerry, Dustin Hoffman, Donald Trump’s late first wife Ivana and daughter Ivanka Trump are included among the contacts. The president himself is not listed. There is no suggestion that any person named in his contact book is linked to the atrocious crimes Epstein committed.
Pam Bondi began ‘Phase One’ of releasing the long-awaited, mysterious files related to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein Thursday evening
The officially declassified material included flight logs, Epstein’s infamous contact book, an evidence list and a masseuse list in ten different links posted to the Department of Justice website
The Justice Department posted the files on its website late Thursday, along with a note explaining their significance.
‘The first phase of declassified files largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the U.S. Government,’ the note said.
An evidence list included the document dump shows entries for more than 150 items, including nude images, massage tables, sex toys and other items.
There wasn’t any indication whether the list was from Epstein’s case, Maxwell’s case or some other investigation.
The DOJ said it was making the documents public to show its commitment to transparency.
Bondi angrily suggested in a Thursday letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that more records were recently discovered.
She ordered the FBI to hand over ‘the full and complete Epstein files’ to her by Friday morning, and directed Patel to ‘conduct an immediate investigation’ into why her order to the FBI to turn over all documents was not followed.
Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested, suggested while campaigning last year that he’d seek to open up the government’s files.
The contact list, which has previously circulated in various forms, shows redacted information for dozens of the Hollywood, political and fashion elite and was purportedly compiled by Epstein and his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell
One of ten different links were posted to the DOJ website Thursday evening, which include several flight logs and Epstein’s infamous ‘little black book’
The Justice Department released a blacked-out list of over 250 masseuses
They also put out an evidence list showing entries for more than 150 items, including nude images, massage tables, sex toys and other items
The first wave of files posted on the Justice Department website have largely been circulating in the public domain for years but Bondi has promised more to come after being disgusted by what she’d seen
Pedophile billionaire Epstein took his own life in jail on August 10, 2019, awaiting trial for sex trafficking and other heinous crimes.
The well-connected financier and Maxwell kept a wide circle of friends from fellow billionaires to politicians like Trump and Clinton, and entertainment icons.
Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News.
Epstein flew numerous well-heeled friends to his private Caribbean island, Little Saint James, where some of them sexually abused children.
Many Americans have been waiting for the lengthy FBI investigation files to be released publicly after Trump promised to do so.
Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein´s criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests.
In January 2024, a court unsealed a trove of documents that had been collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
The unorthodox move followed other Trump Administration efforts to empower fringe social media figures and highly partisan outlets that enthusiastically support him, at the expense of the more critical mainstream media.
Conservative political commentator Rogan O’Handley, also known as DC Draino, from left, social media content creator Chaya Raichik and conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler hold up binders with a cover titled ‘The Epstein Files: Phase 1,’ with Jack Posobiec at the White House
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this week announced her office would pick the outlets in the rotating press pool, instead of the White House Correspondents Association.
Sure enough, fringe right-wing influencers were almost immediately included in the outlets given the closest access to the president.
Jessica Reed Kraus, Rogan O’Handley, Liz Wheeler, Chaya Raichik from LibsofTikTok, Jack Posobiec and Mike Cernovich were given ‘binders’ of the files.
‘Today, at a briefing room in the White House, I was handed a binder with the first release of the Epstein files – by Attorney General Pam Bondi herself,’ Kraus wrote.
‘Only 15 binders were printed, given to 15 independent journalists now included in a growing press pool, where influencers like myself will be granted equal access to the president and the White House.
‘Proof that a powerful shift is happening – Trump walked in and told us we are the most trusted media now. And that he counts our efforts as the reason he won.
‘Under his term, Independent journalism will be briefed the same as legacy outlets are. Our inclusion has officially broken their monopoly over White House access.
‘The era of controlled narratives is over. The truth belongs to the people. ‘Thank you Trump for recognizing our hard work and taking us in.’
Pro-Trump lawmakers were up in arms on Thursday over how the files were first released.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who is leading the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, was furious that her panel was not able to review the files before they were turned over to a handful of media personalities.
The well-connected financier and Maxwell kept a wide circle of friends from fellow billionaires to politicians like Trump and Clinton , and entertainment icons. Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News
The first release comes as the GOP presses the Justice Department to increase transparency and publish previously classified records and federal secrets including the Epstein Files.
Bondi said on Thursday that there will ‘absolutely’ be new criminal charges brought against individuals revealed to be involved in the scandal or its cover-up.
President Trump signed an executive order last month calling on agencies to create plans to release and distribute top-secret documents including on Epstein as well as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights maverick Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wednesday, Luna said she heard back from the DOJ on a slew of files.
‘My office just received a formal response from the DOJ on the Jeffrey Epstein, JFK, MLK, & RFK files,’ wrote the leader of the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.
Luna also sent letters to Bondi, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and White House Counsel David Warrington giving a Thursday deadline requesting a briefing on plans for release of the documents.
Sentiment was widely shared online that Epstein’s death was made to look like a suicide, but was actually a murder meant to prevent him from revealing his client list or co-conspirators in the pedophilic sex trafficking conspiracy.
Epstein’s death was ruled by the medical examiner as a suicide by hanging.
The first release comes as the GOP presses the Justice Department to increase transparency and publish previously classified records and federal secrets including the Epstein Files
But lawyers for Epstein have disputed the ruling as public skepticism over his death grew in recent years, resulting in numerous conspiracy theories.
The possibility of pursuing criminal charges died along with Epstein, so a judge dismissed the case on August 29, 2019 – less than three weeks after he was found hanging in his jail cell.
British socialite Maxwell had a decades-long association with Epstein and was convicted in 2021 on federal charges for sex trafficking after she recruited young girls for the pedophilic ring, as well as child sex abuse and prostitution
Her procurement for Epstein included bringing into the folds of the conspiracy a 14-year-old girl.
Epstein had a private jet that he logged 600 flying hours on each year, usually with guests on board as part of the manifest.
The Boeing 727 was nicknamed the Lolita Express by locals in the Virgin Islands because of its frequent arrivals allegedly with young girls on board.
Lolita has multiple meanings, including a term for a young girl.
Epstein’s private island called Little Saint James is in the United States Virgin Islands, southeast of Saint Thomas. He owned it from 1998 until his death in 2019.