Sarah Fitzpatrick: “The Trump administration’s release of the long-awaited Epstein files didn’t provide what survivors were looking for.”

Mother Jones: Trump’s Epstein coverup is just getting started.

“The Justice Department’s long-awaited release Friday of documents related to the federal government’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein was perhaps most notable for what it lacked,” Politico reports.

“Financial records, internal memos from prosecutors who investigated Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking ring, key material obtained from the searches of Epstein’s palatial homes — none of it figured prominently in the documents released Friday.”

Politico: The Trump administration’s drip drip drip of the Epstein files continues.

“The justice department’s partial release of the Epstein files on Friday signaled how the agency is using a variety of tactics to try to bury and obfuscate Donald Trump’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein,” The Guardian reports.

“As the department raced towards a legally mandated Friday deadline to release its files, little emerged about what it planned to release. There never really seemed to be a doubt that the department would release the files late on Friday afternoon, deploying the well-worn Washington trick of burying unflattering news before a weekend.”

“The lead Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees said they are ‘exploring all legal options’ after a top Justice Department official signaled the agency won’t produce all its documents on Jeffrey Epstein by the statutory Friday deadline,” Axios reports.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice will not be releasing all of its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Friday’s deadline, Politico reports.

Said Blanche: “I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more. There’s a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim.”

“I don’t think it’s going to put it to bed. Because there are people out there who are determined to use this as a way to get Trump. Remember, I said, this is the new Russia collusion hoax. They are going to use this messaging in the 2026 midterms and possibly into the 2028 presidential election.”

— Laura Loomer, quoted by Politico, on today’s release of the Epstein files.

Ankush Khardori: “Whatever emerges is unlikely to put an end to the endless swirl of Epstein-related conspiracy theories.”

“After all, there are still substantial numbers of Americans — 20 percent based on a 2023 poll — who believe that the U.S. government was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, despite a thorough investigation by one of the most well-regarded government commissions in modern American history. Indeed, it is possible that this release will only perpetuate those conspiracy theories and provide fodder for even more of them for years to come.”

Wall Street Journal: A guide to the Epstein files and other materials released so far.

“Frustration is mounting inside the Justice Department as it races to redact thousands of pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein before they must be released Friday,” CNN reports.

“A substantial number of redactions are needed, one of the sources said, and the documents each attorney is processing since Thanksgiving week can number more than 1,000 — a time-consuming task that likely will come down to the wire.”

“Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a batch of 68 photos obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, one day before the deadline for the Trump administration to release a much larger group of Epstein files,” CBS News reports.

“The release includes images of lines from the novel ‘Lolita’ written on a person’s body; various travel documents; a screenshot of text messages about an 18-year-old from Russia and more. The photos can be accessed here.”

“One of the sponsors of the law requiring the release of the investigative files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said he’s giving the Justice Department the ‘benefit of the doubt’ that it will make the files public by Friday — warning that there would be repercussions if it doesn’t,” NBC News reports.

New York Times: “The two men’s relationship was both far closer and far more complex than the president now admits.”

“Beginning in the late 1980s, the two men forged a bond intense enough to leave others who knew them with the impression that they were each other’s closest friend, The Times found. Mr. Epstein was then a little-known financier who cultivated mystery around the scope and source of his self-made wealth. Mr. Trump, six years older, was a real estate scion who relished publicity and exaggerated his successes. Neither man drank or did drugs. They pursued women in a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency.”

“Over nearly two decades, as Mr. Trump cut a swath through the party circuits of New York and Florida, Mr. Epstein was perhaps his most reliable wingman.”

“Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of crimes related to procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, filed a petition on Wednesday seeking to vacate her conviction,” CNBC reports.

“Habeas petitions are, as a rule, the last option for an imprisoned person to void their convictions.”

New York Times: “Much of the last quarter-century of Epstein’s life has been carefully examined — including how, in the 1990s and early 2000s, he amassed hundreds of millions of dollars through his work for the retail tycoon Leslie Wexner. Yet the public understanding of Epstein’s early ascent has been shrouded in mystery.”

“How did a college dropout from Brooklyn claw his way from the front of a high school classroom to the pinnacle of American finance, politics and society? How did Epstein go from nearly being fired at Bear Stearns to managing the wealth of billionaires? What were the origins of his own fortune?”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 70% of Americans said they believe the Trump administration is hiding information about people tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s victimization of young women.

Congressional Democrats have released a selection of photos obtained from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that include pictures of President Trump and former President Bill Clinton, the Wall Street Journal reports.