The North News
New Delhi, December 22
Declassified US government files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have brought renewed scrutiny to a network of influential figures, including former US president Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and pop icon Michael Jackson, as the justice department moved to formally release long-withheld records.
Declassified US government files linked to Epstein have revived public debate over his connections with powerful political, business and cultural figures, after the justice department began formally releasing documents detailing his activities and associations.
The files were made public by Attorney General Pamela Bondi in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They relate to Epstein’s sexual exploitation of more than 250 underage girls at properties in New York, Florida and other locations.
Alongside Clinton, Gates and Jackson, the documents also reference US president Donald Trump in the context of past social interactions with Epstein. Other political and diplomatic figures named include former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., former UK ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, former UN ambassador and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, and former US Senate majority leader and peace negotiator George Mitchell.
US officials stressed that the appearance of names in the files does not in itself imply criminal wrongdoing, but reflects Epstein’s wide-ranging social and professional network.
Bondi said the first tranche of documents largely consists of material that had previously circulated through leaks and court filings but had never been formally released by the US government. She described the move as part of a broader push for transparency and accountability.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would investigate any missing or undisclosed records, pledging there would be no cover-ups and that all relevant material would be provided to the justice department.
The attorney general said her office initially received about 200 pages of Epstein-related documents, before discovering that thousands more pages linked to the investigation and indictment had not been disclosed. She has ordered the FBI to submit the remaining files by February 28 and to examine why the full material was not provided earlier.
The justice department said further documents would be released after review and redaction, with the identities of Epstein’s victims protected. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, a case that continues to raise questions about accountability and the reach of elite power networks.
