The Trump administration had promised to reveal bombshell information on Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous sex trafficker who rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous before dying in custody in 2019. "It's sitting on my desk right now to review; that has been a directive by President [Donald] Trump," Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week. "Donald Trump doesn't make empty promises."
On Thursday, a group of conservative media personalities were photographed grinning outside the White House, binders labeled "Epstein Files: Phase 1" in hand. But the documents in question turned out to be underwhelming. The index of evidence seized from Epstein's homes has already been extensively reported on. So have the flight logs. The version of Epstein's phone book released on Thursday is actually more heavily redacted than the version circulating online. And the final document is completely pointless: a list of Epstein's 254 "masseuses," redacted with a black highlighter from start to finish "to protect potential victim information."
The haul was so unimpressive that the Republican House Judiciary Committee's X account posted a link to the "Epstein Files" that turned out to be a Rickroll prank video—a pretty tasteless joke, considering that the subject matter is sex crimes against minors.
