WASHINGTON, United States, Dec 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The US Justice Department on Friday began releasing a long-awaited cache of records from its investigations into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- though much of the material remained heavily redacted.

Among the trove are numerous photographs depicting former Democratic president Bill Clinton and other luminaries, including Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, in Epstein's social circle.

The sweeping blackouts across many of the documents -- combined with tight control over the release by officials in President Donald Trump's administration -- stoked skepticism over whether this disclosure will silence conspiracy theories of a high-level cover-up.

In one example, seven pages listing 254 masseuses have every name buried beneath thick black bars alongside the note, "redacted to protect potential victim information."

Even so, the files shed some light on the disgraced financier's intimate ties to the rich, famous and powerful -- Trump among them.

At least one file contains dozens of censored images of naked or scantily clad figures. Others show Epstein and companions, their faces obscured, posing with firearms.

Previously unseen photographs include Maxwell with disgraced former prince Andrew, pictured lying across the legs of five people.

Another photo shows a youthful-looking Clinton lounging in a hot tub, part of the image blacked out.

In another, Clinton swims alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

- A 'fraction' of the evidence -

The White House wasted no time seizing on Clinton's appearances.

"Slick Willy! @BillClinton just chillin, without a care in the world. Little did he know..." Communications Director Steven Cheung posted on X.

Clinton's deputy chief of staff Angel Urena responded to the newly released files by saying the country "expects answers, not scapegoats."

"The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves," Urena wrote in a statement posted to X.

Democrats voiced frustration that the release fell far short of what was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The new federal law required the government's entire case file be posted publicly by Friday, constrained only by legal and victim privacy concerns.

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

"Simply releasing a mountain of blacked-out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law. For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out."

Other Democrats in Congress said the government had withheld a draft indictment prepared after the financier's 2019 arrest, which they say would implicate "other rich and powerful men who were on Epstein's rape island."

Trump, who once counted his Palm Beach, Florida neighbor as a close friend, spent months trying to block the disclosure of the files, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

The Republican president ultimately bowed to mounting pressure from Congress -- including members of his own party -- and last month signed the law compelling publication of the materials by Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said several hundred thousand documents would be published on deadline day, with more to follow in coming weeks.

Prosecutors retain discretion to withhold material tied to active investigations, and Blanche said files had also been redacted to protect the identities of Epstein's hundreds of victims.

- 'Democrat hoax' -

Trump once moved in the same Palm Beach and New York party scene as Epstein, appearing with him at events throughout the 1990s. He severed ties years before Epstein's 2019 arrest and faces no accusations of wrongdoing in the case.

But his right-wing base has long fixated on the Epstein saga and conspiracy theories alleging the financier ran a sex trafficking ring for the global elite.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to release all the files. Yet after returning to office, he dismissed the transparency push as a "Democrat hoax."

Trump's Justice Department ignited a political firestorm in July with a memo declaring there would be no further disclosures from the Epstein probe and his fabled "client list" did not exist before the president bowed to pressure.

Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes, and is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting underage girls for the former teacher and banker, whose death was ruled a suicide.