The publication of Epstein's files has caused a new scandal. What the media is writing
- Новости
- World
- The publication of Epstein's files has caused a new scandal. What the media is writing
The US Department of Justice has begun publishing documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, a financier convicted of sexual crimes. However, the agency has faced criticism due to the editing of files and the deletion of a photo with US President Donald Trump. How the world's media react to the development of the scandal is in the Izvestia digest.
The Guardian: The US Department of Justice has returned a photo of Trump from Epstein's archives
The US Department of Justice has restored the publication of an image with US President Donald Trump, which was previously removed from public access to the investigation materials related to Jeffrey Epstein. His unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a wave of accusations from Democrats of apparent political interference in favor of the head of state, a former friend of Epstein. The original reason for the removal was that the photo posed a danger to the victims of the deceased convicted sex offender.
The Guardian
Earlier on Sunday, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the removal of photos from the Epstein case materials published on Friday, including a photo of Trump, "has nothing to do" with the president, and confirmed that the images will probably be published again after it is determined whether they need editing.
Representatives of the Democratic Party said that the government had not fulfilled its legal obligations to fully disclose the investigative documents. Criticism of the file editing indicates the political nature of the congressionally sanctioned publication of the documents, with Democrats claiming that the files currently published have been heavily modified and selected in such a way as to present Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, in an unfavorable light.
CNN: The slow pace of disclosure about Epstein has caused a new storm
The Ministry of Justice denies charges of withholding information and violating the new law following the partial and substantially redacted publication of documents on the Epstein case amid an escalating political scandal. The information provided is far from the full disclosure required by Congress, and hundreds of thousands of physical evidence are still being examined by officials. Experts say that many documents crucial to understanding the case and the reasons why Epstein was not prosecuted earlier have not yet been published.
CNN
Senior officials insist that their caution is motivated by the need to avoid disclosing the identities of Epstein's victims, but Trump's opponents claim that his politicized justice department is preventing this. And the limited publication of the documents threatens to condemn the women, who are alleged to have been victims of human trafficking or violence by Epstein at a young age, to another false hope in their quest for justice, which they have been waiting for for so long.
Incomplete disclosure of information, as well as a series of mutual accusations and a growing political scandal, prolonged the Epstein scandal, which caused serious disagreements within the Republican Party and the MAGA movement. The only clear conclusion from this new phase of the drama is that the Trump administration's attempts to once again calm the storm have generated a new whirlwind of political energy that could harm the president.
The Washington Post: lawmakers want to hold the Attorney General accountable
Members of the House of Representatives Ro Hanna, Democrat from California, and Thomas Massey, Republican from Kentucky, said they would seek to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi accountable for contempt of Congress in connection with the non-disclosure of additional documents related to Epstein. At the moment, the US Department of Justice has published more than 100,000 pages of images and documents, some of which have been heavily edited.
The Washington Post
According to Hanna, their proposed resolution would also allow a congressional committee to check classified documents to verify their authenticity. "Our goal is not to destroy Bondi," he said. — Our goal is to provide documents to the victims. Our goal is to expose the rich and powerful men who went to this island and hid the facts of violence."
The law requires the release of all documents by December 19, but the Justice Ministry said it would take weeks to edit and publish the remaining files. Hanna said he was concerned not so much about non-compliance with deadlines as about the "selective concealment" of documents related to Epstein's crimes.
Financial Times: how Bill Clinton came into the spotlight because of Epstein's documents
If Trump tried to use the published information about Epstein to divert attention from his relationship with the late pedophile, as critics claim, then perhaps he succeeded. After the publication, the public focused not on Trump, but on one of his main ideological opponents, Bill Clinton. The former president appears in many photographs related to Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Financial Times
Trump, who maintained a well-known friendship with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, has long tried to keep the documents secret. But since then, his team seems to have realized the political benefits of using these documents to tarnish the reputation of a prominent Democrat. Over the weekend, Trump supporters in the media and blogosphere quickly picked up on this idea of guilt by association, pointing to photos of Clinton that seemed to emphasize his closeness to Epstein.
The leaked data showed that the Epstein case has become a weapon in the growing ideological war in America: the left uses these files to discredit Trump, and the right to attack his opponents. They also highlight statements by Democrats and other politicians that Trump is using the Justice Department to harass his political opponents. The current president has repeatedly made this accusation against the previous administration of Joe Biden.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
