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Here’s an archived copy of The NY Times report: How a frantic scouring of the Epstein files consumed the Justice Department:
This spring, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department made an all-out push involving hundreds of employees to scour the Jeffrey Epstein files with a single goal in mind — find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of President Trump’s supporters.
But after devoting countless hours to the project, working at times around the clock searching databases, hard drives, network drives, cabinets, desks and closets, the bureau and the department finally acknowledged this month that they had little to show for their efforts. They came to realize, for instance, that there was no specific “client list,” which previous investigators had known years ago.
Those conclusions, announced in a memo earlier this month and then repeated this week in a statement by a Justice Department official, capped a frenetic scramble to sort more than 100,000 pages of materials related to Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison six years ago awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
During the inquiry, Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times — including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures.
The bureau’s own expert document reviewers raised concerns at one point that the investigation was not only being rushed, but could also violate laws and internal protocols put in place to protect against sensitive information about witnesses, child victims and grand jury material from being released.
Details of the review were based on accounts by three former F.B.I. and Justice Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. The New York Times also obtained a summary of the process as described by one senior bureau official to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The expansive and ultimately fruitless effort to scrutinize the files reflects the obsession within the Trump administration and Mr. Trump’s political base with Mr. Epstein — a fixation that several top administration officials helped fuel themselves before they entered government. The review appeared to be nearing an end in mid-April, shortly before Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed Mr. Trump that he was mentioned in the files.
Still, by reaching the same conclusion that other inquiries had come to — namely, that Mr. Epstein killed himself in 2019 and that no evidence existed to charge other people with trafficking young women — the document review has created deep fissures among the president’s followers, who have found themselves not knowing who or what to believe about a story that they have been fed for years.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, said the administration had only itself to blame.
“It’s clear that President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are directly responsible for the confusion and mistrust around the Epstein cover-up,” he said in a statement, describing the senior bureau official’s account as “highly credible.”
On Tuesday, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, drove the most recent stake into the heart of the Epstein conspiracy theory, reiterating the findings of the department memo this month indicating that the F.B.I.’s review had not turned up any additional culprits.
“This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead,” Mr. Blanche wrote on social media. “The joint statement by @TheJusticeDept and @FBI of July 6 remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.”
Mr. Blanche’s message was a tacit concession that the review by the bureau — one that diverted resources from other critical missions — had largely been a waste of time. It also risked further enraging Mr. Trump’s supporters and right-wing influencers, many of whom remain convinced that other powerful men were in league with Mr. Epstein.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment. A spokesman for the F.B.I. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Almost as soon as Mr. Trump returned to the White House, digging into the Epstein files emerged as one of his administration’s top priorities. But there were early signs that recriminations and missteps would consume the effort.
This spring, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department made an all-out push involving hundreds of employees to scour the Jeffrey Epstein files with a single goal in mind — find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of President Trump’s supporters.
But after devoting countless hours to the project, working at times around the clock searching databases, hard drives, network drives, cabinets, desks and closets, the bureau and the department finally acknowledged this month that they had little to show for their efforts. They came to realize, for instance, that there was no specific “client list,” which previous investigators had known years ago.
Those conclusions, announced in a memo earlier this month and then repeated this week in a statement by a Justice Department official, capped a frenetic scramble to sort more than 100,000 pages of materials related to Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison six years ago awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
During the inquiry, Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times — including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures.
The bureau’s own expert document reviewers raised concerns at one point that the investigation was not only being rushed, but could also violate laws and internal protocols put in place to protect against sensitive information about witnesses, child victims and grand jury material from being released.
Details of the review were based on accounts by three former F.B.I. and Justice Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. The New York Times also obtained a summary of the process as described by one senior bureau official to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The expansive and ultimately fruitless effort to scrutinize the files reflects the obsession within the Trump administration and Mr. Trump’s political base with Mr. Epstein — a fixation that several top administration officials helped fuel themselves before they entered government. The review appeared to be nearing an end in mid-April, shortly before Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed Mr. Trump that he was mentioned in the files.
Still, by reaching the same conclusion that other inquiries had come to — namely, that Mr. Epstein killed himself in 2019 and that no evidence existed to charge other people with trafficking young women — the document review has created deep fissures among the president’s followers, who have found themselves not knowing who or what to believe about a story that they have been fed for years.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, said the administration had only itself to blame.
“It’s clear that President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are directly responsible for the confusion and mistrust around the Epstein cover-up,” he said in a statement, describing the senior bureau official’s account as “highly credible.”
On Tuesday, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, drove the most recent stake into the heart of the Epstein conspiracy theory, reiterating the findings of the department memo this month indicating that the F.B.I.’s review had not turned up any additional culprits.
“This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead,” Mr. Blanche wrote on social media. “The joint statement by @TheJusticeDept and @FBI of July 6 remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.”
Mr. Blanche’s message was a tacit concession that the review by the bureau — one that diverted resources from other critical missions — had largely been a waste of time. It also risked further enraging Mr. Trump’s supporters and right-wing influencers, many of whom remain convinced that other powerful men were in league with Mr. Epstein.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment. A spokesman for the F.B.I. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Almost as soon as Mr. Trump returned to the White House, digging into the Epstein files emerged as one of his administration’s top priorities. But there were early signs that recriminations and missteps would consume the effort.
