The DOJ hyped the release of Jeffrey Epstein's address book. Business Insider saw one years ago.
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- With much hype, the Department of Justice released documents in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
- Pundits were seen at the White House carrying binders that said "declassified."
- Though AG Pam Bondi said "a lot" would be released, little, if anything, is new to the public.
The saga of Jeffrey Epstein continues.
The Department of Justice under the Trump administration promised to release documents related to the Epstein investigation. Its first delivery left some disappointed, however. Most, if not all, of the information was already known to the public.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News this week that flight logs and "a lot of names" would be released. On Thursday, multiple conservative political commentators were seen at the White House with binders that read "The Epstein Files" and "declassified."
Hours later, the DOJ published a series of redacted files, saying that the release "largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US Government."
A redacted contact book named Mike Bloomberg, Alec Baldwin, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, David Koch, several Kennedys, and dozens upon dozens of other prominent business and cultural figures. Many of them — including those named above — were never accused of misconduct related to Epstein.
A list of 254 "masseuses" was fully redacted to "protect potential victim information," the files said.
Epstein was accused of sex trafficking women and girls for more than a decade.
Despite the fanfare, the files released by the Department of Justice did not include any new bombshells, which frustrated some who seemed to be waiting for watershed revelations.
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna posted on X that the release was a "complete disappointment."
The DOJ release came years after Business Insider obtained and authenticated one of Epstein's little black books in 2021. A woman found the book lying on a Manhattan sidewalk in the 1990s.
It also wasn't the only Epstein little black book. In 2020, BI compiled a previous little black book — which was discovered in 2009 court proceedings and made public in 2015 — into an exclusive searchable database.
Over the years, additional names of associates have come out through unsealed court documents. In one unsealed set of documents containing over 200 names, fewer than a dozen were accused of wrongdoing in the case.
With ties to some of the world's most well-connected business and cultural figures, Epstein's case has drawn international intrigue and conspiracy theories. Among those named in Epstein's books are former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, and Prince Andrew.
It was August 2019 when Epstein, the disgraced financier who was facing sex trafficking charges, was found dead in his cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center. A medical examiner ruled he died by suicide.