00:00A new trove of files from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein was released by the U.S. Justice
00:06Department on Friday. That's after months of wrangling and rebellion by some of President
00:11Donald Trump's staunchest supporters over his administration's reluctance to make public all
00:16files tied to the convicted sex offender. Reuters was in the process of reviewing the latest
00:21documents upon their release by the Justice Department, which bowed to pressure from
00:25lawmakers who forced the file's disclosure with the new law. Some files in the new release included
00:30photos of former President Bill Clinton and Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger. In a note on the
00:36Justice Department website, it said all reasonable effort had been made to protect victims, but warned
00:41that some could be disclosed inadvertently. Trump had initially urged fellow Republicans in Congress
00:47to oppose the new law forcing the release of the files. He had warned that disclosing potentially
00:52sensitive records could set a dangerous precedent. However, many of his voters accused the Trump
00:57administration of covering up Epstein's ties to powerful people and hiding details surrounding
01:02his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail, which was ruled a suicide. On the campaign trail in 2024,
01:09Trump promised to declassify the Epstein files if elected. But he's been seeking to move on from
01:15the controversy so he can focus on issues like affordability ahead of the midterm elections next
01:20November. Trump and Epstein were once friends until a falling out before Epstein's conviction in 2008.
01:27The president has repeatedly denied knowing about Epstein's alleged sex trafficking. Trump's deputy
01:32attorney general, Todd Blanche, told Fox News earlier on Friday that the DOJ would not release the entire
01:38cache of files related to Epstein. He said he expected hundreds of thousands more to be released in the
01:44coming weeks as the department reviewed them to protect victims' privacy.
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