WASHINGTON — The Justice Department released a handful of files on notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday — though there appear to be no new names or details.
The info first went out to a hand-selected crop of right-wing social media influencers Thursday afternoon — and even those recipients were underwhelmed by what the documents revealed.
A source who reviewed the files told The Post ahead of the influencers’ embargoed release that they spanned more than 100 pages of the notorious pedophile’s phone book, including a list of contacts without further context and addresses redacted.
This person added the unveiling was likely to be a “disappointment” to sleuths eager for bombshell new evidence about Epstein’s connections to prominent political and business leaders.
ndeed, when the conservative social media personalities began live-streaming footage of the content after The Post’s initial report, they revealed files that were long available in the public record — such as flight logs — and that all of the boldfaced names in the contact list already were known from prior disclosures.
Hours later, Attorney General Pam Bondi released the documents publicly. The names in the contact book included: Michael Jackson, Britain’s Prince Andrew, Mick Jagger, Ethel Kennedy — the mother of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Alec Baldwin and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
However, the document appeared to be a copy of Epstein’s “black book” that was first published in 2021 and later put up for auction.
A list of 254 names on another document titled “MASSEUSES” was entirely redacted.
The flight logs included in the release were made public as part of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial.
No “client list” was included in the release, which was compiled into binders describing the disclosure as “phase one” of the Epstein files, according to The Post’s source.
Bondi later suggested more details will be coming. In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel made public Thursday afternoon, she claimed that she had been told “the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.”
Bondi went on to demand the “full and complete Epstein files to my office, including records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients” by 8 a.m. Friday.
Bondi previously hinted at more dramatic revelations in a Wednesday night interview with Jesse Waters of Fox News saying she would release “a lot of names, a lot of information — it’s pretty sick what that man did.”
Epstein’s criminal activities with minors have attracted long-lasting public interest because of his deep connections to the world’s most powerful men before his downfall — including free trips aboard his “Lolita Express” jet and stays at his lush private Caribbean island.
Former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew and President Trump are among the high-profile people who associated with Epstein — though Trump reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident with a club member’s teen daughter. (Trump was not named in the contact list, though some of his family members were.)
Copies of the binder circulated within the West Wing Thursday morning and were distributed to 15 conservative influencers who visited the White House.
One of the influencers who obtained early access to the files, podcaster Liz Wheeler, acknowledged that the trove lacked a “bombshell.”
“Now what’s interesting is we’re all waiting for bombshells,” Wheeler told followers in a live stream on X. “We’re all waiting for juicy stuff. And that’s not what’s in this binder. That’s not what’s in this binder at all. And that’s exactly how the attorney general presented it to us.”
“It’s fine to feel frustrated,” she added. “You should feel frustrated.”
Wheeler briefly showed off portions of the binder, revealing heavily redacted pages, including a contact list, while insisting, “what we were looking for was hidden from us.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who leads a House GOP task force on government transparency, demanded more information.
“I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today … A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook,” Luna tweeted.
“THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!”
