After a number of photographs released on Friday (US local time) from the Epstein Files prominently featured former US President Bill Clinton with little reference to Donald Trump, a spokesperson from the Clinton camp has spoken out regarding the same, saying that the White House is now trying to 'shield' themselves and the investigation 'isn't about Bill Clinton".
Angel Urena, the Clinton spokesperson, said in his statement, "The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton."
"This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be. Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton," he added.
"There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We're in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that," Urena also said.
Besides Clinton, some of the other prominent individuals featured in the Epstein files released Friday (local time) are Michael Jackson, Sarah Ferguson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Mick Jagger, and others.
No political redactions: Justice Department claims
Amid this criticism, the US Justice Department has now said that there have been no political redactions from the Epstein documents that were released, and the redactions that were made were solely to protect the victims.
The Dept of Justice quoted Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as saying, “The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law — full stop. Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim.”
However, social media users added context to the DoJ's post, saying that “The DOJ’s extensive redaction of the only-partially released Epstein files does not comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and thus is against the law.”
119 pages of the documents released by the DoJ, which have been termed as grand jury materials, have been fully redacted.
