The Justice Department un-redacted some more names in the Jeffrey Epstein files yesterday night after stress from lawmakers who reviewed unredacted variations of a number of information.
Rep. Thomas Massie, in an interview with NCS’s Kaitlan Collins final night time, stated the Justice Department had redacted the identities of a number of folks named in a 2019 FBI doc that listed Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a web based alternate with Massie final night time, stated that the Justice Department is “hiding nothing.”
NCS is reaching out to these talked about in Blanche’s exchanges with Massie.
The Justice Department has not defined why redactions have been made in such a confused and inconsistent manner, nor have they addressed why different people past Epstein have been by no means charged, besides to say there was no proof that may permit them to prosecute anybody else.
In a listening to earlier than Congress final 12 months, FBI Director Kash Patel stated there was no credible data that confirmed Epstein trafficked women to others.
“If there were, I would bring the case yesterday — that he trafficked to other individuals,” Patel stated on the time. “And the information we have, again, is limited.”
A draft indictment that was by no means introduced towards Epstein however was launched by the DOJ final week alleged that from 2001 to 2005, Epstein and three unnamed defendants engaged in a conspiracy to “procure females under the age of 18” to have interaction “in lewd conduct” for cash “to satisfy Jeffrey Epstein’s prurient interests.” The identities of the unnamed defendants are usually not recognized publicly.
Instead of bringing the indictment — which included scores of costs — towards Epstein and the three unnamed people, federal prosecutors in 2007 reached a non-prosecution settlement with Epstein, who averted federal costs and served 13 months in state jail on prostitution costs.
In a 2020 evaluation, the Justice Department discovered that former US lawyer for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta had used “poor judgement” in the deal however didn’t discover that Acosta had engaged in skilled misconduct.