Who and what is included in the document?

The U.S. Department of Justice has released the first batch of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Congress passed a law requiring the full release of the documents, which include photos, videos and investigative documents, by Friday and are highly anticipated.

However, Democrats and some Republicans accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of violating its legal obligations after saying it would not be able to release all the documents by the deadline. Many details across thousands of files were also heavily redacted.

The first batch of documents included a number of celebrities, including former US presidents Bill Clinton and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as well as musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.

The presence of a name or photo in a document does not indicate wrongdoing. Many of the people named in the documents or previously released documents related to Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.

Several of the photos released included former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

One photo shows him swimming in a pool, and another shows him lying on his back in what appears to be a hot tub with his hands behind his head.

Clinton was photographed with Epstein on several occasions in the 1990s and early 2000s, before the disgraced financier was first arrested. He has never been accused of wrongdoing by survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse and has denied any knowledge of his sex crimes.

A Clinton spokesman commented on the new photos, saying they were decades old.

“They can release any number of grainy photos from over 20 years ago, but this has nothing to do with Bill Clinton. Never has and never will,” Angel Urena wrote on social media.

“There are two types of people here. The first type knew nothing and severed ties with Epstein before his crimes came to light. The second type continued to have a relationship with him after his crimes came to light.

“We’re in Group 1. No amount of delay from people in Group 2 is going to change that.

“Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”

The US president was also mentioned in a batch of documents released by the Justice Department.

Court documents detail that Epstein allegedly introduced a 14-year-old girl to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

During the alleged encounter in the 1990s, Epstein elbowed Trump and “jokingly asked him,” referring to the girl, “This is good, right?” the documents said.

Trump smiled and nodded in agreement, according to the 2020 lawsuit filed against Epstein’s estate and Ghislaine Maxwell.

“They both laughed” and the girl felt uncomfortable but was “too young at the time to understand why,” the document said.

The victim claims she was groomed and abused by Epstein for years.

In court documents, she made no accusations against Trump.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

The incident was one of very few mentions of the president in thousands of documents released Friday. He can be seen in a few photos, but his presence is minimal at best.

The Trump War Room, the official X account for the president’s political operations, posted a photo of Clinton after the photo was released.

Trump’s press secretary also retweeted Clinton’s photo, saying “Oh my God!”

However, there are still pages to be published.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch said “hundreds of thousands” of pages of documents are still under review and have not yet been made public.

The US president has previously said he had been friends with Epstein for many years, but said they fell out around 2004, several years before Epstein was first arrested.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing with Epstein.

One photo in the released documents appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying on top of five people, whose faces have been edited.

Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell can be seen standing behind them in the photo.

Andrew’s friendship with Epstein has been closely scrutinized for years, but Epstein did not appear in the photos.

He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and said he did not “see, witness or suspect any conduct that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”

The newly released documents include the broadest list of celebrities we’ve seen in an Epstein document release to date.

The former financier is known for his connections in entertainment, politics and business.

Some photos released by the Justice Department show him with stars including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and Diana Ross.

It’s unclear when or where the photos were taken or in what context they were taken. It is unclear whether Epstein had ties to all of these figures or whether he participated in any of these activities. Previously released photos of Epstein’s estate include photos he did not take, as well as photos from events he did not attend.

A newly released photo shows Epstein posing with Michael Jackson. The pop icon wore a suit, while Epstein wore a zip-up hoodie.

Another photo of Jackson shows him with former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Diana Ross. They posed together in a small area, and multiple other faces were removed from the image.

Another photo among thousands of documents shows Rolling Stones legend Jagger posing with Clinton and a woman whose face has been edited. They were all dressed in cocktail attire.

Several photos include actor Chris Tucker. One of the photos shows him posing next to Clinton at a dinner table. Another photo shows him on a plane tarmac with Epstein’s convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The BBC has contacted Jagger, Tucker and Ross for comment. Clinton has previously denied knowledge of Epstein’s sex crimes, and a spokesman on Friday said the photos were from decades ago.

“This has nothing to do with Bill Clinton. It never has and never will,” the spokesman said.

Another photo included in the documents released yesterday shows Ghislaine Maxwell posing in front of 10 Downing Street.

She is alone, and no context is provided in the photo as to why she was there or when the photo was taken.

We do not know who was the Prime Minister when the photo was taken, or in what capacity Maxwell was visiting Downing Street.

The documents include one of the first people to report Epstein.

Maria Farmer, an artist who worked for Epstein, told the FBI in a 1996 report that Epstein stole personal photos she took of her 12- and 16-year-old sisters.

She said in a complaint that she believed he sold the photos to potential buyers and threatened to burn her house down if she told anyone.

Her name was redacted from the document, but Farmer confirmed the account was hers.

She noted in the report that Epstein allegedly asked her to take photos of young girls for him in swimming pools.

“Epstein is now threatening (redacted) that he will burn down her house if she tells anyone about the photos,” the report states.

Farmer said she feels vindicated nearly 30 years later.

“I feel redeemed,” she said.

Many of the documents released Friday were redacted, including police statements, investigative reports and photos.

More than 550 pages of the document released on Friday were fully redacted, according to BBC US partner CBS. They included a document related to the grand jury investigation, 100 pages of which were completely blacked out.

Under the law, officials can redact material to protect the identity of a victim or for anything relevant to an active criminal investigation, but they are required by law to explain such redactions, which has not yet been done.

The thousands of pages released Friday are only part of what’s to come, according to the Justice Department.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch said the department will release “hundreds of thousands of pages” on Friday and expects to release “hundreds of thousands more” in the coming weeks.

He told “Fox & Friends” that the department is rigorously reviewing every page of material to ensure that “each victim — their name, their identity, their story, to the extent that it needs to be protected — is fully protected.” He believes that this is a process that takes time.

It’s unclear when more material will be released, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration.

Democrats, including Congressman Ro Khanna, have threatened action against Justice Department members, including impeachment or possible prosecution for delays.

Khanna joined Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in leading the vote on the Epstein Documents Transparency Act, defying U.S. President Donald Trump, who initially urged his party to vote against the measure.

“The hundreds of thousands of pages of documents dumped by the Department of Justice do not comply with the law,” he said on social media. He added in the video that all options are on the table and that he and Massey are carefully considering them.