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Top Justice Department official plays down chance for charges arising from Epstein files revelations
AP News ^ | Updated 2:30 PM CST, February 1, 2026 | ERIC TUCKER

Posted on 02/01/2026 1:37:13 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official played down the possibility of additional criminal charges arising from the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying Sunday that the existence of “horrible photographs” and troubling email correspondence does not “allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

Department officials said over the summer that a review of Epstein-related records did not establish a basis for new criminal investigations.

That position remains unchanged, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, even as a massive document dump since Friday has focused fresh attention on Epstein’s links to powerful individuals around the world and revived questions about what, if any, knowledge the wealthy financier’s associates had about his crimes.

“There’s a lot of correspondence. There’s a lot of emails. There’s a lot of photographs. There’s a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But that doesn’t allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.”

He said that victims of Epstein’s sex abuse “want to be made whole,” but that “doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said Friday that it would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under a law intended to reveal most of the material it collected during two decades of investigations into Epstein.

The fallout from the release of the files has been swift. A top official in Slovakia left his position after photos and emails revealed he had met with Epstein in the years after Epstein was released from jail. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that longtime Epstein friend Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, should tell U.S. investigators...

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: ap; associatedpropaganda; commieshasthesads; democratshasthesads; didntkillhimself; doj; epsteinobsessed; epsteinobsession; epsteinsmear; erictucker; pedoprotectors
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1 posted on 02/01/2026 1:37:13 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

of course there will be prosecutions——

if they find any prominent Republicans in the evidence.


2 posted on 02/01/2026 1:43:08 PM PST by Segovia (https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2025/07/06/fossil-fooled-lives-vs-lies-n2659950)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Unless the victims start naming names, who they gonna prosecute?


3 posted on 02/01/2026 1:43:16 PM PST by digger48
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

But the libs are foaming at the mouth over some of this stuff.

It was always going to be a shit-show. It hasn’t disappointed.


4 posted on 02/01/2026 1:43:42 PM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

All the real evidence was destroyed long ago. Probably only way to bring charges is to have the prostitutes (groomed children or voluntary pros) to detail and sign affidavits.


5 posted on 02/01/2026 1:44:52 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (Trump has arrived and it is awesome to have a real President.)
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To: digger48

Naming millionaires and billionaires could boomerang on the victims in the form of lawsuits.
It’s not right.


6 posted on 02/01/2026 1:46:23 PM PST by Dalberg-Acton
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To: Dalberg-Acton
Naming millionaires and billionaires could boomerang on the victims in the form of lawsuits.

Don’t they also make people disappear?

7 posted on 02/01/2026 1:56:24 PM PST by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. 🎤 Father of USAF ISR pilot. ✈️ Aviation is in our DNA)
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To: Segovia

(D)ifferent standards of course.


8 posted on 02/01/2026 2:05:03 PM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
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To: Dalberg-Acton

Slander and libel lawsuits? I don’t think they’d want t bring more attention.


9 posted on 02/01/2026 2:08:42 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: Dalberg-Acton

If a billionaire sues a victim, what will they get? Presumably, the victims don’t have enough money to pay a judgement.


10 posted on 02/01/2026 2:09:34 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

You have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Can any of the victims prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were there at the same time? It is a he said, she said case unless staff is going to testify.


11 posted on 02/01/2026 2:09:46 PM PST by alternatives?
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Probably true, because the Democrats have had the evidence for ,more than 4 years, and anything that is damning was completely destroyed, imcluding Republicans. Because they can become eye-witnese evidence. So, the best measure is to get rid of any incriminating evidence on everyone, so that the claim can be denied.

Because those Republicans are in with the Democrats on far more than just this child sex criminality. They are traitors, and the claim that criminals protect each other is only true within the mafia, and even there it doesn't always hold together.

12 posted on 02/01/2026 2:11:25 PM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’ll take “What is non-existant” for 200 please Alex...

They already know there’s nothing actionable in these file, that’s why they released them.


13 posted on 02/01/2026 2:12:37 PM PST by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Of course not!


14 posted on 02/01/2026 2:12:42 PM PST by Sunsong
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Of coarse there will be no prosecution’s, Democrats don’t get prosecuted, they get elected to congress.


15 posted on 02/01/2026 2:13:56 PM PST by Ronald77 ( )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The only result of this it we will know that all the worst things we’ve said about the “club” that runs everything are true AND that it doesn’t matter what we know, they go on being in charge.


16 posted on 02/01/2026 2:16:56 PM PST by pepsi_junkie ("We want no Gestapo or Secret Police. F. B. I. is tending in that direction." - Harry S Truman)
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To: Dalberg-Acton

It’s ridiculous to talk about defamation lawsuits. Public figures must prove “actual malice” - that the statement was made knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth and the last thing any of these people want to do is get involved with legal action that forces them to detail their activities.


17 posted on 02/01/2026 2:27:37 PM PST by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

If they do nothing about this, they are truly evil. Clinton and Biden are involved.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/02/shocking-email-epstein-files-implicates-former-us-ambassador/


18 posted on 02/01/2026 2:37:16 PM PST by roving
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Epstein Circus was only one among others protected by local, state(s), and federal judges and district attorneys <— who should be a focal point of investigation.


19 posted on 02/01/2026 2:48:38 PM PST by wasmv80
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To: Mark17

Since they would likely be naming Clinton, yes.


20 posted on 02/01/2026 5:17:24 PM PST by Dalberg-Acton
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