What has actually been released in the phase one of the Epstein files?

Files relating to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein have been declassified as part of an executive order from Donald Trump upon him taking office as president.

As a quick recap, conversations about Epstein, a disgraced financier, have been ongoing for a number of years, after he was awaiting charge for sex trafficking crimes, and it became clear he had a number of high profile associates, including celebrities and royals. Since then, the world has awaited details about who he was allegedly involved with.

"I'm not a sexual predator, I'm an 'offender,'" Jeffrey Epstein told the New York Post in 2011. "It's the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel."

However, he would die before he made it to court in 2019.

The first batch of the Epstein files were released on Thursday night by Trump’s attorney-general Pam Bondi, and a number of political influencers were seen clutching large binders containing what they thought would be answers surrounding Epstein's secretive life.

However, it would turn out that not a lot of new information would be in the files at all.

What has actually been released in the newest Epstein files? Getty

While previously 'classified', much of what we learn from the new documents has been around in the public domain for a while.

The files include flight logs from the sex offender’s private jet, a partly-redacted “contacts list,” and a totally-blacked-out list of more than 250 “masseuses”.

However, Trump's administration has defended this release as "phase one" of what's to come, and this particular release was part of a settled defamation lawsuit against Epstein's right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

In response to the lack-of new information surrounding the case, attorney general Pam Bondi has now demanded the FBI turn over all documents by the morning of 28 February.

In a post on X, FBI director Kash Patel said that the agency is entering a new era and that “there will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned”.

Despite being heavily-redacted, what we do see in the documents are allegations Giuffre was directed to have sex with an unnamed prince (separate to her allegations against Prince Andrew, which he refutes), the unnamed owner of a large hotel chain and Glenn Dubin, a billionaire hedge fund manager. Dubin has always maintained that he "strongly denies" the allegations.

Giuffre also claims she had sex with retail magnate Leslie Wexner, who strongly denies any involvement with her.

However, much of this was known from the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend, after he died by suicide while awaiting trial from jail in New York.

"The Epstein list is going to be released and much more is coming. There is currently a war raging within", Marjorie Taylor Greene responded to the disappointment around the files' secrecy.

"The resistance within will be beaten and the truth will be revealed", she added, saying she was "so proud" of both Pam Bondi and Kash Patel.

Greene insists that by the weekend, Bondi will have released updated documents, protecting only the identities of victims.

Bondi herself has insisted more files will be made public soon enough.

You can view the redacted files here.

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