Trump makes no mention of Epstein in rally speech as administration blasted over incomplete release of files: Live updates
The president ignored questions from reporters about the Epstein files as he headed to North Carolina hours after the Justice Department published some of the documents
President Donald Trump did not acknowledge the release of the long-awaited Jeffrey Epstein files in a rally speech Friday night, as his administration was blasted for failing to publish the complete documents despite the deadline being set by law.
Thousands of documents from the late convicted sex offender’s case were released by the Justice Department Friday afternoon but officials acknowledged that the release was incomplete, prompting accusations of a cover-up.
The president ignored questions from reporters about the Epstein files on his way to the rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he gave a speech that went on for an hour and a half.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s DOJ earlier dumped a library of legal documents, paperwork and photos, which included multiple images of former President Bill Clinton lounging in a hot tub; and Epstein with a host of celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Richard Branson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson.
The photos were undated and many documents were heavily redacted, stripping context for much of what was made public.
Being photographed with Epstein, or mentioned in documents, does not suggest wrongdoing.
Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in federal jail while awaiting trial, was a wealthy and powerful financier.
The convicted sex offender was accused of sexually abusing and trafficking women and girls for years, alongside his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
RECAP: Trump’s DOJ releases heavily redacted batch of Epstein files full of blacked out pages and photos of Ghislaine Maxwell and Bill Clinton
Last month, after growing demands for a full public accounting of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged abuse, the president reluctantly signed legislation compelling the Department of Justice, FBI and U.S. attorney’s offices to publish everything in their possession by December 19.
The Justice Department launched a public-facing website Friday afternoon. But officials acknowledged that not all of the materials required under law have been released, and government lawyers are scrambling to make redactions. More than 200 attorneys helped review the documents, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche wrote to members of Congress.
More than 1,200 names were identified as either victims or their relatives, according to Blanche. Those names are being redacted. “Protecting victims is of the highest priority” for the Trump administration, he wrote.
Alex Woodward has the details of Friday’s document release.
Trump’s Justice Department publishes heavily redacted Epstein files
Trump tears into 'highly neurotic' Marjorie 'Traitor' Greene as she pushes DOJ to release complete Epstein files
Donald Trump tore into his former loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during his speech in North Carolina after the MAGA firebrand pushed for the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.
“What the hell happened to her?” Trump ranted to the crowd.
Taylor Greene has hit out at the DOJ, along with Rep. Thomas Massie, for failing to publish all of the documents and for the heavy redactions.
Trump tears into 'highly neurotic' Marjorie 'Traitor' Greene as she pushes DOJ to release complete Epstein files
Donald Trump tore into his former loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during his speech in North Carolina after the MAGA firebrand pushed for the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.
“What the hell happened to her?” Trump ranted to the crowd.
Taylor Greene has hit out at the DOJ, along with Rep. Thomas Massie, for failing to publish all of the documents and for the heavy redactions.
House Democrat says two key documents in Epstein files yet to be released
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who helped push for the release of government files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, said the disgraced financier’s 60-count indictment before he reached a plea deal on sex crimes in 2008 and an 82-page memo backing up the charges have yet to be made public.
“The most important documents are missing, they’ve had excessive redactions and the central question that Americans want to know — who were the other rich and powerful men on the island raping these young girls or covering up — has not been answered,” Khanna told CNN.
Trump touts his economic agenda in rambling North Carolina rally speech after partial release of Epstein files
With his approval ratings at the lowest levels of his presidency and polls showing Americans believing that he has taken his expansive view of presidential power too far, President Donald Trump is headed to his Palm Beach, Florida social club to close out his year with a two-week vacation.
But before he could get away from the continued furor over the Epstein files and head off for leisure time, golf and parties on the Mar-a-Lago patio, the president had to convince voters at a Rocky Mount, North Carolina rally that whatever economic pain they are feeling nearly a year into his second term in office has absolutely nothing to do with him.
For the first 20 or so minutes after he took the stage, it wasn’t clear whether he would stick to that plan...
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Trump touts his economic agenda in rambling North Carolina rally speech
DOJ pushes back on claims it redacted names of politicians
The Justice Department has pushed back on accusations that names of politicians were redacted in the Epstein files it released Friday.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and former Trump loyalist-turned critic Marjorie Taylor Greene were among those railing against the number of redacted documents in the Epstein files release.
Massie and the Georgia representative shared part of a report by Fox News Digital, which scrutinized the information withheld in the massive documents release:
“The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims,” Fox reported. “Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials.”
The department denied the reporting in a statement on X.
Watch: Trump claims he no longer cares 'what a woman looks like'
President Donald Trump claimed he no longer cares “what a woman looks like.”
Trump made the remarks at a rally Friday evening in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, speaking on the same day as the highly anticipated release of the Epstein files, which the president reluctantly agreed to publish.
“I’m a very aesthetic person, believe me, except with women,” Trump said. “I don't care what a woman looks like. I used to say beautiful. Now I don't care. Since politics, I never mentioned looks anymore,” he claimed, despite earlier pointing out the group of “beautiful” North Carolina women, who supported him at rallies in 2024.
“The most beautiful woman can walk right across, I don't even look at her anymore,” Trump said.
Epstein survivor’s FBI complaint of child pornography released in files dump
Maria Farmer, the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Epstein, said in a statement that she has “waited three decades, over half my life,” for this moment.
Farmer, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse, filed a complaint with the FBI in 1996, which she said was “ignored.”
Farmer’s name is redacted, but a complaint from 1996 appears in the files released Friday, claiming that Epstein stole nude images of her and her sister, then ages 16 and 12.
“When I was ignored and hung up on by the FBI in 1996, my world turned upside down and I felt frozen in time,” she said. “I faced death threats, ridicule and mockery by some of the most powerful people on earth.”
The complaint also states Epstein requested Farmer to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools and he threatened to “burn her house down” if she told anyone about the photos.
She said she is hopeful she can “pick up where I left off at age 26.”
“I’ve waited 30 years,” Farmer told the New York Times. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
Thomas Massie warns future DOJ could convict Pam Bondi over Epstein files
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has warned that a future Justice Department could convict Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California led the charge to force the Trump administration to release the Epstein files.
The government, by law, had to release everything they had on the disgraced financier, with a few exceptions, by Friday. The Justice Department did release thousands of documents by the deadline, but not all of them.
Massie shared part of a report by Fox News Digital, which scrutinized the information withheld in the massive documents release: “The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims. Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials.”
The congressman also shared the section of his Epstein Files Transparency Act, which stated, “No record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”
He also posted part of federal law, which states: “Whoever knowingly...conceals, covers up...any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter...shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.”
In a follow-up post, Massie wrote: “A future DOJ could convict the current AG and others because the Epstein Files Transparency Act is not like a Congressional Subpoena which expires at the end of each Congress.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier Friday that it would take a “couple of weeks” to release everything his agency had to produce.
In pictures: Trump appears at North Carolina rally after ignoring Epstein questions
Donald Trump is speaking at a North Carolina rally after avoiding questions from reporters about the Epstein files release.
Trump made a brief statement to reporters on his way to the rally in Rocky Mount, but didn’t respond to questions about the Justice Department’s tranche of documents on the late convicted sex offender.
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