President Trump on Tuesday said that it’s “really time” for the country to move on from Jeffrey Epstein following the release of nearly 3 million more documents by the Justice Department late last week.
“I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump noted that he had not read the newly released files, which include thousands of photos of the disgraced financier’s properties, emails, flight logs, and tips submitted to the FBI through the National Threat Operations Center.
The files contain mentions of several high-profile individuals, including Trump, former President Clinton, billionaire Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among others.
None have been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, but their appearance in the files drew fresh scrutiny of their relationships with the convicted sex offender.
Trump on Tuesday dismissed Musk’s and Lutnick’s names in the files, saying “I’m sure they’re fine.” He doubled down on assertions that the latest batch absolves him, claiming a “conspiracy” had been waged against him, as perpetuated by “Epstein and other people.”
“I think it’s time now for the country to maybe get onto something else like health care,” Trump repeated. “Something that people care about.”
The Epstein files controversy has plagued Trump throughout his second term, with large swaths of Democrats and Republicans criticizing the administration for its handling of the investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump’s Justice Department initially resisted pressure to publicize the Epstein files, but in a stunning reversal last November, the president urged Republicans to support a bill mandating their release. Trump quickly signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law following its passage.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday his department’s review of the files had been completed in accordance with the law.
“This review is over,” Blanche said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I mean we reviewed over 6 million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, thousands — tens of thousands of images … which is what the statute required us to do.”
However, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who helped author the law, claimed Sunday that the department had not fully complied with it. He and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are pushing for access to the full, unredacted files.
“They’ve released, at best, half the documents. But even those shock the conscience of this country. I mean, you have some of the most wealthy individuals, tech leaders, finance leaders, politicians, all implicated in some way, having emails about wanting to go to Epstein’s island, knowing that Epstein was a pedophile,” Khanna said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The law required redactions of victims’ identities and information that could jeopardize a federal investigation, but not redactions in the name of potential “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
The Justice Department said in a letter on Monday that it had taken down “several thousands of documents and media that may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information,” citing “technical or human error” as reasoning.
