\n<\/p>\n
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.<\/p>\n
Sometime in the next 15 days, the Justice Department is set to release a huge cache of files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The release, mandated under a law passed by Congress last month, has been the subject of a great deal of anticipation\u2014but not a lot of clarity.<\/p>\n
To try to understand what the files might include and what they might not, I turned to Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald investigative reporter who has covered Epstein\u2019s case for years and likely knows more about it than anyone else. (My colleague Adrienne LaFrance interviewed her about Epstein for Radio Atlantic in July.) Here are five tips for reading the Epstein files like an expert.<\/p>\n
1. Curb Your Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n The reason that the Epstein story has been such a huge scandal is the same reason the files may not contain any bombshells: Law enforcement\u2019s pursuit of Epstein was long insufficient. \u201cI honestly think these files may not be as explosive as what people hope, because the FBI just didn\u2019t dig hard enough into this case,\u201d Brown told me. Although the files reportedly include tens of thousands of pages, some may be repetitive, and others have already been made public, whether by House investigators or through prior reporting; the Herald has sued to obtain many documents related to Epstein. But Brown pointed out that even information that was previously public may not be well known, and so it could still come as a revelation to many observers. \u201cWhat might not be new for me might be new for three-quarters of America,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n 2. Pay Attention to the Original Investigation<\/strong><\/p>\n Brown said she\u2019ll be looking closely for materials related to the initial 2000s federal prosecution of Epstein, which ended in a sweetheart plea deal in 2008. Prosecutors drew up an indictment but never used or released it, and that draft could be part of the files. So might relevant evidence. Computers, which possibly stored videos, were removed from Epstein\u2019s Palm Beach property prior to a 2005 police search. \u201cIt\u2019ll be curious to see how hard [the FBI] fought to get those computers,\u201d Brown said. The files might also shed light on whether any unusual communications occurred between Epstein and figures in the Justice Department, including Matthew Menchel, who took the lead on the original prosecution. Another name to look for is Bruce Reinhart, a lawyer who went directly from working in the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office\u2014though he\u2019s maintained that he did not work on the Epstein case\u2014to representing Epstein employees. (Both Menchel and Reinhart have denied having acted improperly.)<\/p>\n 3. Pay Attention to the 2019 Case Files<\/strong><\/p>\n Another place to search for new information is in documents related to the 2019 investigation into Epstein. (He died in a New York jail cell that year; his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking in 2021.) \u201cWe don\u2019t really know what the Justice Department did during that time period\u201d the way we do about \u201cwhat happened in 2008 in Florida,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard case to do because we\u2019re talking about victims whose memories fade after 15 years, 20 years,\u201d she told me. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s not statements in there from victims where they said they were raped by so-and-so.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Scrutinize the Redactions<\/strong><\/p>\n Whenever the government releases sensitive documents, some parts are blacked out\u2014occasionally just individual names, but sometimes entire pages. The law requiring the Epstein files\u2019 release specifically allows DOJ to withhold information pertaining to ongoing investigations. One likely outcome, Brown told me, is that things that are already public or shouldn\u2019t be redacted will be hidden, while information that should be redacted isn\u2019t. Already, Epstein victims have complained that their names were improperly exposed in House releases. \u201cI\u2019ve seen it many, many times where they just have the victim\u2019s name out there, and yet there\u2019s full pages full of redactions that don\u2019t make any sense,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n 5. Beware of Missing Context<\/strong><\/p>\n Though the files already released provide a peek into Epstein\u2019s private interactions, they are also necessarily incomplete and fragmented. That\u2019s allowed speculation and insinuation that may not hold up to scrutiny. (What\u2019s up with that \u201cBubba\u201d email, anyway?) \u201cI keep hearing, Why isn\u2019t the mainstream media reporting this?,\u201d Brown told me, referring to some theories circulating online and in alternative media. \u201cMainstream media isn\u2019t reporting it because we\u2019re very skeptical of the context of some of his emails. Because, let\u2019s face it: He was a liar. He didn\u2019t really tell the truth all the time,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if him saying \u2018I have all the dirt on Trump\u2019 really means he has any dirt on Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n One fundamental question in this release is whether the public can believe that the DOJ will release the files fully and without interference. The Trump administration has done little to earn the benefit of the doubt on this, and the Epstein story has been rife with officials failing to hold appalling behavior to account. \u201cI think the American public is correct to be skeptical about what they\u2019re going to show us and not show us,\u201d Brown told me. Naturally, that skepticism is particularly pronounced when it comes to the role of the president of the United States. Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein\u2019s criminal schemes, and Brown said she has long doubted that Trump was directly involved in them, but she\u2019s been surprised by his recent handling of the matter. \u201cI think the most telling thing is the fact that Trump has fought so hard\u201d to keep the files sealed, she said. \u201cI just don\u2019t know what that means, you know?\u201d Perhaps the Epstein files will provide an answer\u2014or at least some hints.<\/p>\n Related:<\/p>\n Here are three new stories from The Atlantic:<\/strong><\/p>\n Today\u2019s News<\/strong><\/p>\n Dispatches<\/strong><\/p>\n Explore all of our newsletters here.<\/em><\/p>\n Evening Read<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles Hewitt \/ Getty<\/p>\n The One Line Americans (Weirdly) Choose to Wait In<\/p>\n By Valerie Trapp<\/p>\n A recent grocery run in Brooklyn left me properly confused. When I approached the registers, little coconut waters in hand, two options presented themselves: I could get in the self-checkout line, in which dozens of headphone-wearing customers thumbed through their phones. Or I could go through the staffed checkout lane, which had no wait at all. What a bunch of schmucks! I thought. I breezed through the cashier\u2019s lane and was soon out the door, while many of my fellow shoppers remained in self-checkout, languishing.<\/p>\n Read the full article.<\/p>\n More From The Atlantic<\/em><\/p>\n Culture Break<\/p>\n Illustration by Shawna X<\/p>\n Read. Here are the 10 books that made The Atlantic\u2019s writers and editors think the most this year.<\/p>\n Watch. The missing-child drama All Her Fault (streaming on Peacock) reveals the slow death of the prestige thriller, Sophie Gilbert argues.<\/p>\n Play our daily crossword.<\/p>\n Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.<\/p>\n When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting <\/em>The Atlantic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Sometime in the next 15 days, the Justice Department is set to release a huge cache of files related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[3703,105,3093,2563],"class_list":{"0":"post-36038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-epstein","9":"tag-expert","10":"tag-files","11":"tag-read"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n