The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they are turning. In what may prove to be one of the most scrutinized document releases in recent memory, the Justice Department has begun the arduous task of making public hundreds of thousands of files related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down for an interview Friday and made a declaration that bears close examination. There has been no effort, he insisted, to scrub President Donald Trump’s name from these documents. None whatsoever.
“Assuming it’s consistent with the law, yes,” Blanche stated when pressed about whether every document mentioning Trump would see the light of day. He went further, making clear that no names are being protected. Not Trump’s. Not Bill Clinton’s. Not Reid Hoffman’s. The message was unmistakable: the chips will fall where they may.
This matters because in Washington, perception often becomes reality faster than you can say “cover-up.” Democratic lawmakers have already begun wielding selective disclosures from Epstein’s estate like weapons, attempting to paint Trump in the darkest possible hues. Blanche pushed back hard against this narrative, pointing out what he characterized as political gamesmanship.
The first batch of documents dropped late Friday, and what emerged tells its own story. The files contained precious little about Trump but included photographs of former President Bill Clinton. The images arrived without context, yet they spread across social media like wildfire, amplified by Justice Department and White House officials.
Clinton’s team fired back swiftly. Spokesperson Angel Urena accused the administration of selective disclosure, insisting the photographs showed no wrongdoing. “The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday only to protect Bill Clinton,” Urena said. The spokesperson added pointedly, “Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”
Here is where the story gets complicated. The law signed by President Trump gave the Justice Department a 30-day deadline to release the entirety of its Epstein investigative files. That deadline has come and gone, yet the full release remains incomplete. Blanche defended this delay, clarifying that he never promised all files would be released immediately, only that they would be released in accordance with the law.
The devil, as they say, lives in the details. The Justice Department bears a legal obligation to protect victims, and Blanche revealed that as recently as Wednesday, officials learned of additional victim names requiring redaction. The department has received over 1,200 pages of materials that require careful review.
This is the tightrope walk facing the Justice Department. Release too quickly, and victims could be exposed. Release too slowly, and accusations of political manipulation will multiply. The American people deserve transparency, but they also deserve a process that protects the innocent while exposing the guilty.
President Trump stated from the beginning that he expects all releasable files to be made public. Blanche emphasized this directive is being followed to the letter. Whether that proves true will depend on what emerges in the coming weeks as the remaining documents surface.
The truth has a way of emerging, regardless of who tries to bury it. The American people are watching, and they have long memories.
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