The US Department of Justice announced the discovery of a huge array of new materials in the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Federal prosecutors in New York handed over about a million more documents to the department, which indicates a significant expansion of the investigation and future public disclosures. This was reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the FBI provided these records after the government had already been criticized for missing deadlines for releasing information. According to the transparency law, all documents were supposed to become public last Friday.
We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible. Due to the enormous volume of materials, this process may take several more weeks.
Technical failures and criticism
So far, the DOJ has released only a few thousand pages, most of which contain significant redactions (blacked-out fragments of text). The publication was accompanied by technical glitches on government resources and controversial decisions about what data should remain open.
The new data array may contain information about influential people associated with Epstein, which causes significant public resonance. The department's lawyers are trying to balance the requirements of the transparency law and the need to protect the confidentiality of victims of sexual violence.