Disturbing Epstein files are just ‘tip of the iceberg’ as ‘hundreds of thousands’ more due for release
The much-anticipated release of a vast trove of Epstein files will engulf American politics, according to a seasoned White House watcher.
Michael Tappin spoke as the deadline approaches for the disclosure of the archive held by the Department of Justice (DoJ) at midnight, US time.
The drip-drip of disclosure from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee has included images and text connecting the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to high-profile figures including Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.
The US Deputy Attorney General is legally obliged to release a separate, massive trove of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act following months of delays.
Pam Bondi said that the DoJ will release ‘several hundred thousand’ documents from the Epstein files today and ‘over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more’.
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Mr Tappin, honorary fellow at Keele University and co-author of American Politics Today, said: ‘The Democrats know the release of the files, to put it bluntly, is going to be a shitstorm.
‘What we have seen so far is the tip of the iceberg.
‘It will lead to other prominent people being named and shamed by their association with Epstein and being forced to offer their own recollections to avoid the shame. The question now is, who is going to be in the frame, who is going to be named in the files?
‘Rich and influential people’
‘As Scott Fitzgerald said, “the very rich are different from you and me, they possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them.”
‘They attract other rich and influential people to them, and this can be said of individuals such as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton who have been linked to Epstein.
‘What is about to happen now is that a whole load of new revelations are going to expose the corruption in the American political system.’
Trump severed ties with Epstein before the disgraced financier began getting in legal trouble. All the others named also deny any wrongdoing.
In July, the US President referred to some of his own supporters as ‘weaklings’ for falling for ‘the Jeffrey Epstein hoax.’
‘More detail will emerge’
However, the saga is set to ‘run and run,’ Mr Tappin said.
One of the 68 images released yesterday shows Epstein appearing to get a massage as he puts a bracelet on a woman’s wrist.
Others from his estate show passages from Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel ‘Lolita’ about a man’s obsession with, and sexual abuse of, a 12-year-old girl, scrawled on a woman’s body.
Another picture shows a screenshot of WhatsApp messages from an unknown sender providing a checklist for an 18-year-old from Russia and someone asking for ‘1000$ per girl’.
The Democrats have cited transparency as justification for the disclosures, which have not given any additional context.
They have been accused by Republicans on the committee of ‘cherry picking’ images and making ‘targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump.’
‘Epstein files will run and run’
‘My guess is that while a lot of the files so far have been redacted, there is going to be a lot more detail emerge about what exactly Epstein was up to,’ Mr Tappin said.
‘We now know that foreign passports were found in his mansion and there is evidence to show he was involved in bringing young women into the United States, allegedly for his pleasure.
‘The Department of Justice is going to have to release this stuff, and I imagine they have much more than what we have seen already.
‘This is going to run and run, and more people are going to be named in the DoJ files than we have already have seen.
‘We have seen many prominent people already, like Andrew and Bill Gates, and we are going to see more prominent people named.
‘In the long run, this is going to show the American people how much they have been lied to and how oligarchs and rich people control the political system.
‘Democrats and Republicans seem to think so too, as the bill was passed 427-1 in the House.’
While on the campaign trail, Trump indicated that he would release the Epstein files, before resisting disclosure once in office.
He then U-turned again and signed the Bill, after it became clear that the new law was on course to pass through Congress.
Blanche told Fox News that only a partial batch of files will be released today but that it will include ‘several hundred thousand’ documents, with the same number following over the next fortnight.
‘Those documents will come in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein,’ she said.
The law only gave the DoJ 30 days to release the files without any provision for extending the deadline, although it did make provision for withholding or redacting certain material.
So far, the files released by the Democrats have built up a disturbing picture of Epstein’s trafficking ring, without providing a smoking gun showing the involvement of any other individuals.
Virginia Giuffre, one of the girls trafficked by Epstein, has detailed alleged sexual encounters with Andrew in her posthumous book, claiming the royal ‘believed having sex with me was his birthright.’
Andrew has repeatedly and vigorously denied all the allegations.
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