The US Justice Department has released another tranche of documents related to dead paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, with the latest batch including mention of figures including Jay-Z, Pusha T and Harvey Weinstein.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 for sex trafficking and was found dead in his jail cell in August of that year, with authorities later determining that he hanged himself. A sustained campaign pushing for the full publication of all documents and photos that would reveal the high-profile names he associated with followed his death.
On Friday (January 20), the Department of Justice released some 3 million documents from the Epstein files, along with 2,000 videos and roughly 180,000 images. The release is the latest in a slew of material released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law intended to reveal information collected during two decades of investigations involving the late convicted paedophile.
The latest batch of material marks the largest disclosure by the government since the law was passed last year.
As noted by Variety, mentions of Jay-Z, Weinstein and Pusha T did not come from Epstein’s personal records, nor reports corroborated by law enforcement. Rather, both rappers and the disgraced Hollywood mogul were named in a tip to the FBI, which was archived as part of the Epstein investigation.
According to an FBI crisis intake report included in the latest release, an anonymous victim alleged she had been drugged and sexually abused in several instances over the years, and named Pusha T – real name Terrence LeVarr Thornton – as one of her “handlers”.
It went on to say she “attributed the drugging as frequently performed by persons assigned as handlers, whom she described as persons who established friendships with the victims”.
Elsewhere in the report, dated to 2019, the alleged victim said she once woke up in a room with Weinstein and Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – with her. The report also stated that because the victim was drugged in both scenarios, her memory was clouded.
The partially redacted file said the unnamed woman alleged “to have additional information of other persons involved in the enterprise and information related to racketeering conducted in support of the trafficking”, and further believed “she was under surveillance and stalked at the direction of the people involved in the sex abuse”.
The tip itself does not imply these individuals were ever investigated, nor does it imply guilt for the accusations made. As has been stressed in previous file releases, being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing, and several figures identified in the files and in previous releases related to Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.
NME has reached out to reps for Jay-Z and Pusha T for comment.
Back in December, the first batch of material was released – and includes photos, videos and investigative documents. This came following Congress mandating that the files be released in their entirety by December 19. They were made public just hours before the legal deadline brought about by the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Commentators across the political spectrum then accused the DOJ of violating its legal obligations after it said it would not be able to release all the documents by the deadline.
The DOJ website, where the files are available to view, said at the time that in view of the Congressional deadline, “all reasonable efforts have been made to review and redact personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure”.
The photos were also undated and presented without context. A number of famous faces are included in the initial batch of files, including former US President Bill Clinton, and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. As mentioned above, being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing, and several figures identified in the files and in previous releases related to Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein was infamous for his connections across entertainment, politics and business, and the context of images where he is seen alongside artists like Jackson, Jagger and Diana Ross remain unclear, as did his level of association with those pictured.
