The United States Justice Department released a chunk of the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday (US local time) as per the provisions of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Although the US Congress had said in the act that the full Epstein files had to be released by 19 December, the DoJ has only released the files partially.
Here is a look at some of the most shocking revelations made in the released Epstein files till date:
1. Prominent personalities
A number of prominent personalities and their close proximity to the convicted sex trafficker came to light. Prominent names include the likes of public intellectual Noam Chomsky, former US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, filmmaker Woody Allen, pop music icon Michael Jackson, vocalist of the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and current US President Donald Trump.
3. Trump 'knew about the girls'
A number of emails released by the US House Oversight committee has revealed that in January 2019, Epstein wrote to columnist Michael Wolff, regarding Trump, saying, “Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
3. Prince Andrew associated himself with Epstein longer that earlier thought
In late 2010, Prince Andrew claimed that he had ended his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, but only four months later, in March 2011, he had sent a mail to Maxwell, saying, “I can’t take any more of this,” in regards to allegations against him.
In 2019, Andrew also suggested that he had “absolutely no memory” of his photo being taken with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims.
Giuffre, in her posthumous memoir, had alleged that she was forced into having sex with the former prince on three different occasions.
4. The Trump condoms
Among the many pictured released from the Epstein files recently, one was of the current US President with six women whose faces were redacted by the House committee members. In another picture, a bowl full of condoms can be seen, with their covers carrying a caricature of Donald Trump and with the text “I’m HUUUUGE!” The bowl which contained the condoms came with a sign that read, “Trump condom $4.50”.
5. The 'Lolita' references
Among the photos released on Friday, some depict the close up of the neck and foot of a person, with inscriptions from Vladimir Nabokov's infamous novel, Lolita, inscribed on them. The book, banned in a number of countries, depicts a relationship between a man and an underage girl.
6. Passports, text messages
Other items include a number of passports of unidentified individuals from several countries, including Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Russia.
A screenshot of a text message has also gone viral. "I will send u girls now", while another one said, “Maybe someone would be good for J?”. The text message also includes the name, age, and body measurements of an indentified individual.
