As the Jeffrey Epstein records scandal continues, a new report this week said that President Donald Trump’s name was redacted from the Epstein files. Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein associate currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, was also moved to a lower security prison.
Let’s dive in to the latest.
In a Friday “FOIA Files” report from Bloomberg, Jason Leopold said that “three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak with the media” revealed that Trump’s name was redacted from the Epstein files by a Federal Bureau of Investigation Freedom of Information team. He clarified that the president’s name appeared alongside many other public figures and that it is not evidence of a crime “or even a suggestion of wrongdoing.”
“That team, tasked with conducting a final review of the voluminous cache, had applied the redactions before the DOJ and the FBI concluded last month that ‘no further disclosure’ of the files ‘would be appropriate or warranted,’” said Leopold.
Since that announcement from the FBI and Justice Department, Epstein’s name has regularly been in headlines. It was met with criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, had connections with many high-profile people, including celebrities and politicians. He died in a jail cell around six year ago. While officials have said that Epstein took his own life, many question that determination.
YouGov polling conducted last month found that 40% of respondents believe that Epstein was murdered, compared to 20% who believe he committed suicide. A YouGov poll conducted just last weekend also found that 46% of respondents believe Trump was involved in Epstein crimes, 43% believe they were close friends and that 61% disapprove of the way the Epstein investigation is being handled. Even media personalities Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan, typically Trump supporters, have criticized how the administration is handling the case.
Trump has tried to downplay the case, and lashed out at supporters for being “conned by the Lunatic Left,” though Epstein conspiracy theories have long been popular among conservatives. He also sued The Wall Street Journal after it published a birthday message Trump allegedly sent to Epstein. Still, the outlet went on to report that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump his name appeared in the Epstein files earlier this year.
Leopold noted that Bondi “rolled out what the Justice Department referred to as the “first phase” of the release of the Epstein files,” in February. However, he said that “Bondi’s big Epstein files party was a bust. It turned out the documents she called declassified, which included pages from Epstein’s infamous “black book,” had been previously released, most recently during the criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell four years earlier. (The black book revealed Trump’s name and the names of his wife, Melania, and other family members.)”
The bureau’s FOIA team tasked with conducting a final review of the records blacked out the names before higher-ups said last month that releasing the documents ‘would not be appropriate or warranted.’
Bondi then sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel demanding to know why the bureau didn’t provide her with thousands of documents related to the Epstein investigation, Bloomberg’s report said. Then, Patel called for further review of the files that included all-nighters to go through more than 100,000 documents.
“Senior officials at the FBI’s Record/Information Dissemination Section, which handles the processing of FOIA requests, pushed back on the directives,” Leopold said, citing people familiar with the matter. “Michael Seidel, the section chief of RIDS who worked at the FBI for about 14 years, was quite vocal, the three people familiar with the matter told me. Patel blamed him for the failure to send all of the Epstein files to Bondi. Then, a couple of months ago, Seidel was told he could either retire or be fired, according to the people. he chose the former and quietly left the FBI, the people said. The details related to Seidel’s exit haven’t been previously reported.”
Seidel could not be reached for comment, Leopold said.
After that review, the documents were screened by FOIA officers who redacted names. According to Leopold, people familiar with the matter said Trump’s name was “blacked out because he was a private citizen when the federal investigation of Epstein was launched in 2006.”
“A White House spokesperson would not respond to questions about the redactions of Trump’s name, instead referring questions to the FBI.
The FBI declined to comment. The Justice Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment,” Leopold added. He thinks that “the chances of aliens resurrecting JFK are greater than Trump’s name ever being unredacted from the Epstein files.”
In other Epstein-related news this week, Maxwell was moved from a prison in Florida to a lower-security federal prison camp in Texas. Last week, Audacy reported that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche planned to meet with Maxwell amid the continuing controversy over the Epstein case.
“We can confirm, Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas,” BOP spokesperson Donald Murphy said in a statement to CNN Friday.
CNN noted that Maxwell’s transfer is “relatively uncommon,” because people convicted of sexual offenses are usually considered to be a high risk to public safety. Details of Maxwell’s meeting with Blanche have not been made public, her lawyer has said she “honestly answered every question that Mr.
Blanche asked.”
POLITICO reported Friday that a scheduled congressional deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell had been indefinitely postponed, citing House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.). While Comer said his committee was “willing to continue to engage in good faith negotiations” they would not grant her congressional immunity, which her lawyers requested. Comer also said the committee did not agree to her lawyer’s request to receive questions in advance.
This week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also announced that Senate Democrats would invoke the “century-old law known as the ‘rule of five’ to compel the Department of Justice to release the full and complete Epstein files,” by Aug. 15.