What to know about the Epstein files release, from redactions to 'Rickrolling'

The Justice Department released a batch of files from its investigation into the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, after considerable fanfare. But the documents contained little new information, to the dismay of prominent right-wing figures.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi teased the document release in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday, after growing pressure from a handful of Republican lawmakers. She blamed the delay on efforts to protect victims' privacy, but promised "a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information" as soon as the next day.

On Thursday, about a dozen right-wing influencers — including conservative commentator Liz Wheeler, far-right activist Jack Posobiec and Chaya Raichick, who runs the social media account LibsofTikTok — emerged from a White House meeting holding oversized binders labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "The Most Transparent Administration in History."

The files were not released publicly until later that day. In the meantime, some of the attendees began to downplay the contents of the binders in social media posts.

Internet personality Chad Prather acknowledged "we didn't get the information we wanted," while activist Scott Presler called it "not a smoking gun."

"What's interesting is we're all waiting for bombshells, we're all waiting for juicy stuff, and that's not what's in this binder," Wheeler said in a live video posted to X. "That's not what's in this binder at all, and that's exactly how the attorney general presented it to us."

On Thursday afternoon, the Justice Department posted the 10 documents online. They include flight logs from Epstein's private plane as well as a heavily redacted contact book and masseuse list — but no major revelations. Most of the material was used in the trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, according to several news outlets.

"The first phase of declassified files largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the U.S. Government," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution in a controversial plea deal that allowed him to avoid more serious federal charges.

In 2019, Epstein was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges over extensive allegations that he exploited dozens of girls — some as young as 14 — over the course of at least a decade, including by paying some to recruit other girls and to have sex with a who's who of powerful men. He died by suicide in his jail cell later that year while awaiting trial.

The powerful company Epstein kept — he socialized with figures including former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and President Trump — and speculation about his cause of death continue to fuel intrigue and conspiracies even years later.

The lack of new information in Thursday's much-hyped document dump stoked disappointment and even anger from politicians and commentators on both sides of the aisle.

Right-wing social media influencer Laura Loomer slammed the rollout in a series of tweets, writing that "everyone is laughing at the [Trump] admin today" and calling on Bondi to resign, calling her "a total liar."

"THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR instead of leaking old info to press," tweeted Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican who heads a newly created task force on declassifying federal secrets.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a prominent critic of the administration, tweeted a screenshot of one of the pages from the documents, completely blacked out with redactions.

"You were promised the full Epstein files," he wrote. "You got this."

Bondi says the FBI withheld information 

Bondi responded to the criticism by promising to release more documents, which she said the FBI had withheld from her office.

She said in a statement that after the Justice Department had received approximately 200 pages of documents, she was "informed of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein that were not previously disclosed."

Bondi tasked FBI Director Kash Patel with investigating why the request was not completed in full, and asked the FBI to deliver the remaining documents by 8 a.m. on Friday. It is not immediately clear whether the FBI has met that deadline; the agency has not returned NPR's request for comment.

Many of the conservative figures who had received binders similarly placed the blame on the FBI and the Southern District of New York, accusing them of defying Bondi's orders.

"These swamp creatures at SDNY deceived Bondi, Kash, and YOU," Wheeler tweeted.

Patel posted on X Thursday that the FBI is entering a new era in which there will be "no cover-ups, no missing documents and no stone left unturned," promising that "anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued."

"If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them," he added. "And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be."

Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images

/

AFP via Getty Images

And what about the 'Rickrolling'? 

Midday Thursday, as members of the public waited eagerly for the documents to publish online, the House Judiciary GOP account on X posted in all-caps: "#BREAKING: EPSTEIN FILES RELEASED."

But the link — with the words "EpsteinFilesV2" in the URL — didn't lead to the document trove, or anything about Epstein at all. It redirected users to the YouTube music video for Rick Astley's 1987 dance pop hit "Never Gonna Give You Up."

It's a textbook example of the online bait-and-switch prank known as "Rickrolling," which has frustrated generations of non-Astley-seeking audiences since it originated in 2007. (Here's an example from NPR's website in 2008.)

Politicians have gotten in on the joke before. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snuck a "Rickroll" into a 2009 video celebrating the launch of the House's YouTube channel; the Obama White House tweeted one out in 2011.

But deploying the prank in the context of a conversation about alleged child sex trafficking struck many viewers as being in poor taste.

"The amount of people hurt by Epstein is not a joke," tweeted Luna, the Republican representative. "Whoever posted this is going to get fired."

Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh called it "just a stunning lack of judgment by the people responsible for this account."

"There's still time to delete this," tweeted Christina Pushaw, rapid response director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign.

The tweet has since been deleted.

The account posted an unrelated tweet on Friday morning, and has not commented publicly on the controversy. NPR has reached out to the office of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Copyright 2025 NPR