What to make of the Epstein Recordsdata?
Crowdsourcing the truth is a good but it requires a discerning public. That’s not addressed to you specifically, dear reader, but it’s more of a general observation. But maybe discernment is a pipe dream, as it requires good faith and an interest in the truth when there are many who would rather use falsehoods in the Epstein releases as a sledgehammer.
As I’m sure you’ve seen, the “latest” Jeffrey Epstein document dump totaled over 3.5 million pages. There were documents from his criminal cases (both in the Southern District of New York and in Florida), the Ghislaine Maxwell criminal case, the release of his personal emails and (some) texts, and a number of photographs and videos.
It was all produced by the Trump Administration in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of all documents in the DOJ’s possession relating to Jeffrey Epstein. The Act was introduced by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna and eventually signed by President Trump in November 2025.
Unfortunately for Trump, his Administration’s good faith effort to produce the Epstein records has been used as a sledgehammer by Massie, Khanna, and others. At the outset, compliance with the demands of the Epstein Files Transparency Act was an impossibility. It required the production of all of the Epstein records within 30 days of its enactment – a short window for the DOJ to review and redact millions of pages of interviews, depositions, emails, photographs, videos, and other materials. We’re talking terabytes and terabytes of data.
Understandably, the 30-day deadline couldn’t be met. And predicably, there was the outcry of a conspiracy to withhold documents. Nevermind that the DOJ had over 500 attorneys and reviewers poring through the Epstein files to comply with the law, and nevermind that there has been a steady release of millions of pages of records.
The rushed deadline – the one demanded by Massie and Khanna –increased the risk of innocents being falsely accused and made it a certainty that mistakes would be made during the redaction process.
About those false accusations: Massie and Khanna embarrassed themselves by falsely alleging the DOJ was hiding the identities of “wealthy, powerful men.” These men were alleged to be part of a DOJ cover-up and, thus, were implicated in Epstein’s crimes. It turns out that four of these men had nothing to do with Epstein. They weren’t “rich” or “powerful.” They certainly weren’t part of a DOJ cover-up. One was a mechanic and one was an IT manager. The mechanic was reportedly fired after he was outed by Khanna and Massie and others, only to be rehired after the truth came out. Their alleged connection to Epstein? They were part of an FBI photo lineup.