RIGHT SPEAK: Conservatives Explode At Botched Epstein Document Rollout: 'Complete disappointment'; The Epstein Files: What is Public, and What is Still Secret?

Conservatives explode at botched Epstein document rollout: 'Complete disappointment':

AG Bondi said that Epstein documents are being held up by a New York FBI field office

The Justice Department’s rollout of the Epstein files on Thursday and Friday drew heated criticism from many on social media from those expressing dismay at the level of detail of the files and the time it took to release them.

The highly anticipated release of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday did not include a "client list" or any new startling information, and speculation continued into Friday with the Justice Department saying that some of the documents were still being tracked down.

Many conservatives took to social media to express frustration and disappointment with the rollout over the past couple of days.

"I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein's phonebook," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., posted on X. "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!"

"The fact that the Epstein files haven’t yet been released demonstrates that the President doesn’t yet have operational control of the DOJ and FBI," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted on X on Friday morning. "It could take a while to establish, or as with his first term, it might never be established."

Many on social media also took issue with the presence of several conservative influencers at the White House who were pictured outside holding binders that said "The Epstein Files Phase 1," suggesting that new information had been released.

"Pam Bondi: ‘We're releasing the first of the Epstein files tomorrow.’ Americans: ‘Cool! Then we'll get to read them?’ Bondi: ‘Well actually you'll get to see fun little photo shoots of conservative personalities & influencers holding a binder!’" Daily Signal investigative columnist Tony Kinnett posted on X.

"Not interested in some big theatrical rollout of the Epstein files, if they even exist anymore," conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on X. "Put them online for everyone to see. Hold a press conference to walk us through it. There’s a time for showmanship and a time to be direct and boring. This is definitely the latter."

"The most likely outcome of the ‘Epstein Files’ has always been that it's mostly stuff we already knew and nothing truly game-changing," Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. "That's even more true for the JFK files. If that's the case, just admit it and move on. Stop hyping this crap up and then not delivering." --->READ MORE HERE

Emily Michot emichot@miamiherald.com

The Epstein files: What is public, and what is still secret?

Opening up two decades of government files related to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein isn’t going to be as simple as inserting them into three-ring binders or putting them on the internet.

After hyping the release of Epstein documents as “breaking news” on Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday distributed binders filled with material to a group of conservative social media pundits. But the big reveal, designed to promote President Donald Trump’s new culture of transparency, fell flat.

When the group opened the binders, they discovered 200 pages of dated material, most of which had long ago been made public. To make matters worse, some of the material was overly redacted — the same material had already been available on the internet in unredacted form.

Bondi, a former prosecutor and Florida attorney general, said she had been misled by the FBI into believing she had all the documents. She then accused federal agents of withholding thousands of pages, and ordered the agency to turn over the rest by Friday morning. But the 8 a.m. deadline came and went without any word on the files.

FBI sources told the Miami Herald Friday that they worried releasing the documents without a careful review — one that would likely take weeks or months — would jeopardize the hard-won 2021 conviction of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking.

Sources also said that the files are voluminous. There are 22 files containing over 500 pages in the FBI vault, a portal on the FBI’s website accessible to the public. The bulk of those 11,000-plus pages are heavily redacted, and Justice Department prosecutors have fought their release for years. While Bondi pointed fingers at the FBI in New York, many more files exist in other jurisdictions. One critical source of evidence against Epstein was in the discovery for a Florida civil case brought by Epstein’s victims against the FBI in 2008. That case spanned a decade and included tens of thousands of pages of material that sheds light on how federal prosecutors mishandled that early case. Not all the FBI documents connected to that case — or the federal criminal case — in Florida have been made public.

“Going through those files would be an enormous, enormous effort. They contain the names of victims, witnesses and other personal information,” said Paul Pelletier, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. “There was tons of discovery in the New York case alone. There’s no prosecutor in their right mind who would be able to corral all the evidence in the Epstein case over 20 years in a week and be able to release it carefully and accurately.”

Dan Novack, a New York-based media attorney for the website Radar Online, has been fighting the Justice Department for eight years to unredact the FBI’s Vault files. Eight years ago, government lawyers argued the redactions were necessary to protect Epstein’s privacy. But after his death in 2019, they now argue that making the documents public would give Maxwell more ammunition for her appeal.

Epstein, who had homes around the country, sexually abused girls and young women as far back as 1993. In 2005, he was accused of luring high school girls, some as young as 14, to his Palm Beach mansion to give him massages and instead sexually assaulted them. A multimillionaire, Epstein managed to hire a dream team of lawyers who successfully pressured the Justice Department to give him a soft plea deal in 2008. He served 13 months in the county jail and was released to prey on other victims.

He was rearrested by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2019. He died awaiting trial on new sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. The cover-up of his crimes and the lack of accountability has fueled conspiracy theories for years, leading to calls for transparency — and the release of long sealed files.

“It’s outrageous. As they say, justice delayed is justice denied. The public should see these records to see who failed them,” Novack said. “How are we supposed to avoid mistakes like this if we can’t learn from the past?”

Novack and others who have followed the case for years don’t expect the files to contain illicit secrets or the names of Epstein’s clients. But they do suspect it could reveal why the FBI and Department of Justice failed to prosecute Epstein to begin with — and later, why they continued to let him travel on his private plane without monitoring, even though he was a convicted sex offender.