Trump makes no mention of Epstein in rally speech as administration blasted over incomplete release of files: Live updates

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who helped push for the release of government files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, said the disgraced financier’s 60-count indictment before he reached a plea deal on sex crimes in 2008 and an 82-page memo backing up the charges have yet to be made public.

“The most important documents are missing, they’ve had excessive redactions and the central question that Americans want to know — who were the other rich and powerful men on the island raping these young girls or covering up — has not been answered,” Khanna told CNN.

With his approval ratings at the lowest levels of his presidency and polls showing Americans believing that he has taken his expansive view of presidential power too far, President Donald Trump is headed to his Palm Beach, Florida social club to close out his year with a two-week vacation.

But before he could get away from the continued furor over the Epstein files and head off for leisure time, golf and parties on the Mar-a-Lago patio, the president had to convince voters at a Rocky Mount, North Carolina rally that whatever economic pain they are feeling nearly a year into his second term in office has absolutely nothing to do with him.

For the first 20 or so minutes after he took the stage, it wasn’t clear whether he would stick to that plan…

The Justice Department has pushed back on accusations that names of politicians were redacted in the Epstein files it released Friday.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and former Trump loyalist-turned critic Marjorie Taylor Greene were among those railing against the number of redacted documents in the Epstein files release.

Massie and the Georgia representative shared part of a report by Fox News Digital, which scrutinized the information withheld in the massive documents release:

“The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims,” Fox reported. “Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials.”

The department denied the reporting in a statement on X.

President Donald Trump claimed he no longer cares “what a woman looks like.”

Trump made the remarks at a rally Friday evening in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, speaking on the same day as the highly anticipated release of the Epstein files, which the president reluctantly agreed to publish.

“I’m a very aesthetic person, believe me, except with women,” Trump said. “I don’t care what a woman looks like. I used to say beautiful. Now I don’t care. Since politics, I never mentioned looks anymore,” he claimed, despite earlier pointing out the group of “beautiful” North Carolina women, who supported him at rallies in 2024.

“The most beautiful woman can walk right across, I don’t even look at her anymore,” Trump said.

Maria Farmer, the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Epstein, said in a statement that she has “waited three decades, over half my life,” for this moment.

Farmer, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse, filed a complaint with the FBI in 1996, which she said was “ignored.”

Farmer’s name is redacted, but a complaint from 1996 appears in the files released Friday, claiming that Epstein stole nude images of her and her sister, then ages 16 and 12.

“When I was ignored and hung up on by the FBI in 1996, my world turned upside down and I felt frozen in time,” she said. “I faced death threats, ridicule and mockery by some of the most powerful people on earth.”

The complaint also states Epstein requested Farmer to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools and he threatened to “burn her house down” if she told anyone about the photos.

She said she is hopeful she can “pick up where I left off at age 26.”

“I’ve waited 30 years,” Farmer told the New York Times. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has warned that a future Justice Department could convict Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California led the charge to force the Trump administration to release the Epstein files.

The government, by law, had to release everything they had on the disgraced financier, with a few exceptions, by Friday. The Justice Department did release thousands of documents by the deadline, but not all of them.

Massie shared part of a report by Fox News Digital, which scrutinized the information withheld in the massive documents release: “The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims. Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials.”

The congressman also shared the section of his Epstein Files Transparency Act, which stated, “No record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

He also posted part of federal law, which states: “Whoever knowingly…conceals, covers up…any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter…shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.”

In a follow-up post, Massie wrote: “A future DOJ could convict the current AG and others because the Epstein Files Transparency Act is not like a Congressional Subpoena which expires at the end of each Congress.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier Friday that it would take a “couple of weeks” to release everything his agency had to produce.

Donald Trump is speaking at a North Carolina rally after avoiding questions from reporters about the Epstein files release.

Trump made a brief statement to reporters on his way to the rally in Rocky Mount, but didn’t respond to questions about the Justice Department’s tranche of documents on the late convicted sex offender.

Donald Trump has started speaking at the rally in North Carolina just a few hours after the Justice Department dropped the Epstein files.

Watch along live below…

Women who have come forward as survivors of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse have accused the Trump administration of “negligence” in its handling of files related to the disgraced financier and call for more “pressure” to release everything the government has on him.

The Justice Department then released thousands of documents, but not all of them as required by law.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier in the day that it would take a “couple of weeks” to release everything his agency had to produce.

One survivor, Jess Michaels, told MSNOW Friday, “Even with an act of Congress we are seeing the exact same delays, negligence, corruption, incompetence that we’ve seen consistently and been advocating about.”

Liz Stein, another Epstein survivor, said, “I think that the best way that the American public can support us is by continuing to put the pressure on and demanding accountability from our government to release all of this information.”

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse pushed for Congress to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump begrudgingly signed into law a month ago.

The bill compelled the Justice Department to release all the Epstein files by Friday.