• Govt to release more Epstein docs, Trump may feature later.
• Trump orders probe into Clinton’s Epstein ties amid pressure.
• Epstein’s ties to high-profile figures were previously disclosed.

The US Justice Department released hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday that made scant reference to President Donald Trump but extensively featured Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

The release was intended to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite the Republican president’s months-long effort to keep them sealed. Trump for years had promoted conspiracy theories about Epstein, but the case has turned into a political liability for him since his return to the White House in January.

It was not immediately clear how substantive the new materials were, given that many Epstein-related documents have previously been made public since his 2019 death in jail, which was ruled a suicide. Reuters is in the process of reviewing them.

The material included evidence from several law enforcement investigations into Epstein, along with photos of Clinton, long scorned by Trump’s Republicans. But they appeared to include few if any photos of Trump or documents mentioning him, despite Trump and Epstein’s well-publicised friendship in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The absence of references to Trump was notable, given that pictures and documents related to him have trickled out of previous Epstein releases for years. Trump’s name appeared in flight manifests listing passengers on Epstein’s private plane that were part of a first batch of Epstein material the Justice Department released in February.

Trump and several of his family members were also listed in an Epstein contact book, which was made public during the trial of Epstein’s associate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Not all documents released

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the initial batch of documents would be followed by additional releases, leaving open the possibility that Trump could feature more prominently in later disclosures.

Trump ordered the Justice Department last month to investigate Clinton’s ties to Epstein, in what critics viewed as an effort to shift the focus away from his own relationship with Epstein.

In one image released on Friday, Clinton can be seen in a swimming pool with Maxwell and another person whose face is blocked out. Clinton, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has previously expressed regret for socialising with Epstein and has said he was not aware of any criminal activity.

The Justice Department added a note to the webpage where it posted links to the documents that said “all reasonable efforts have been made” to redact victims’ personal information, but warned that some could be disclosed inadvertently.

In a letter to Congress, Blanche estimated it would take an additional two weeks for the Justice Department to review other documents for potential release.

There are more than 1,200 names identified as victims or their relatives in the files, he added.

In a statement on Friday, the White House claimed the release demonstrated its transparency and commitment to justice for Epstein’s victims, criticising previous Democratic administrations for not doing the same.

Bipartisan vote pressed for release

But the statement ignored that the disclosures occurred only because Congress forced the administration’s hand, after Trump officials declared earlier this year that no more Epstein files would be made public.

Democrats immediately criticised the administration for failing to release all of the files.

“This set of heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today is just a fraction of the whole body of evidence,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who is the subject of a criminal mortgage-fraud investigation by the Justice Department that he says is motivated by politics, said: “They could have been completely ready for this moment, and they’re not, or they’re just simply withholding the materials.”

But many Trump voters accused his administration of covering up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscuring details surrounding his death in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking and abusing underage girls.

Just 44% of American adults who identify as Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the Epstein issue, compared to his 82% overall approval rating among the group, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The issue has damaged Trump’s political standing ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake.

Two days after those disclosures, Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s connections to Clinton and JPMorgan bank JPM.N. The following week, despite White House pressure to delay the vote, U.S. lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill forcing the release of the Justice Department records, which Trump then signed into law.

Trump denies knowledge of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking

Trump was once friendly with Epstein until they had a falling out in the mid-2000s, before Epstein’s first conviction in 2008. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking.

The law ordering the files’ release allowed the Justice Department to withhold personal information about Epstein’s victims as well as material that would jeopardise an active investigation.

Previous disclosures of Epstein records have revealed that even after his 2008 conviction, he continued corresponding with high-profile figures, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, PayPal founder Peter Thiel, and Britain’s former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal title over revelations about his links to Epstein.

Spokespeople and lawyers for Bannon, Thiel and Mountbatten-Windsor have not responded to Reuters’ requests for comment about their interactions with Epstein.

Summers stepped back from positions at Harvard University, OpenAI and other institutions and said he was deeply ashamed of his actions after documents released by House Democrats in November showed that Summers corresponded with Epstein up through 2019, even seeking relationship advice from him.

JPMorgan paid some of Epstein’s victims $290 million in 2023 to settle claims that it had overlooked his sex trafficking. The bank kept Epstein on as a client for five years after he was convicted of soliciting a minor in 2008.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has installed new plaques at the “Presidential Walk of Fame” located along the West Wing Colonnade of the White House.

The plaques contain direct and politically charged, mocking commentary aimed at recent former US presidents. Reporters spotted the new additions on Wednesday, triggering fresh debate within Washington’s political circles.

One plaque refers to former president Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe Biden” and labels him “the worst president in American history.” Notably, Biden’s portrait is absent from the walk of fame. Instead, a framed image shows Biden’s signature produced by the presidential autopen.

Former president Barack Obama’s plaque identifies him as “Barack Hussein Obama” and describes him as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”

Similarly, the plaque beneath Bill Clinton’s portrait states that “in 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the presidency to President Donald J. Trump.”

According to the White House, several of these plaques were written by President Trump himself. These additions are being described as part of Trump’s broader effort to reshape the White House in line with his political vision.

The White House formally unveiled the Presidential Walk of Fame outside the Oval Office in September. The display includes portraits of all past US presidents, with the exception of Joe Biden.

President Trump has previously overseen other major changes at the White House, including replacing the grass in the Rose Garden with a stone patio and ordering the construction of a new White House ballroom, a project that required the demolition of much of the East Wing.

Political analysts say the plaques represent an unprecedented move in American history, marking the first time such overtly political and controversial narratives about former presidents have been publicly displayed inside the White House. Strong reactions and further debate are expected in the coming days.

Attacks at metro stations in Taipei on Friday involving smoke bombs and stabbings killed at least three people, the Taiwanese city’s fire department said, adding that the suspect was also dead.

Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai said the attacks at Taipei Main Station and Zhongshan Station were “a deliberate act”, although the motive was not immediately clear.

Cho said in a statement that the suspect wore a mask and threw “five or six gasoline bombs or smoke grenades” at Taipei Main Station.

According to the Taipei City Fire Department, a total of four people were confirmed dead, including the suspect, a 27-year-old man.

Five other people were injured, the fire department said.

The city’s mayor said the suspect had apparently jumped off a building and that he was wanted for evading military service.

One of the victims was killed while trying to stop the attack at the Main Station, Mayor Chiang Wan-an told reporters.

“Unfortunately, he was attacked and passed away… we are all deeply saddened,” he said.

A witness of the attack at the Main Station told local network EBC News that he had seen a “man rush up and try and subdue” the attacker, who was “wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest”.

“At first I thought it was a drill, then I saw a person holding a knife and throwing smoke grenades,” said the witness, who did not give his name.

The mayor said that “we understand that the suspect committed suicide by jumping from a building to evade arrest, and has been confirmed dead.”

High alert

A second witness told EBC News that “someone ran out wearing a gas mask and started throwing canisters that released gas.”

“I quickly ran away. He kept throwing them behind me. I didn’t count how many (canisters) but there was a constant banging and clanging sound,” added the witness, who also did not give his name.

“I didn’t hear any explosions, but a lot of gas kept spraying out.”

Cho, the island’s premier, earlier said three people suffered cardiac arrest as a result of the attacks, and several people had “injuries from stab wounds and blunt force trauma to various parts of their bodies”.

Authorities said they were ramping up security across the island in response to the attacks.

“All important locations… including railway stations, highways, subway stations and airports are maintaining a high level of alert and vigilance,” Cho told reporters.

Images released by Taiwan’s Central News Agency show a canister on the ground at the Main Station, with officers examining potential evidence at the scene.

A video posted on social media shows a thick cloud of white smoke covering an underground section of a metro station, with some people standing at a distance.

President Lai Ching-te said Taiwanese authorities will “quickly clarify the details of the case. There will be no leniency and we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our citizens.”

Violent crime is rare Taiwan, though an attack in 2014 horrified the normally peaceful island when a man went on a stabbing spree on Taipei’s metro, killing four people. He was executed for the killings in 2016.