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Epstein scandal raises concerns over US justice, accountability

By Chen Xinyan
China.org.cn
| February 27, 2026
2026-02-27

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released the remaining Epstein files, including over 3 million pages, more than 2,000 video segments and 180,000 images, on Jan. 30, fueling public distrust in the U.S. justice system.

This photo taken on Aug. 1, 2023, shows the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington. [Photo/Xinhua]

The notorious case of Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender, gained renewed attention in 2019, when he was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and died in his jail cell later that year.

The release of the Epstein files faced multiple delays until Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in mid-November 2025. Following this legislative push for accountability, the DOJ began releasing the documents in batches, with the first set distributed on the Dec. 19 deadline.

The unveiled documents reference several political and business figures in the U.S. and Europe, including President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Bill Gates, the former Prince Andrew, former French Culture Minister Jack Lang and others.

Public skepticism and condemnation have grown as outrage spreads over the revelations, with calls for accountability targeting those connected to the Epstein case.

"This topic relates to exposing the face of what is called the collective West ... it is generally beyond human comprehension, it is pure Satanism," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NTV.

"I'm reading the 'Epstein files' every day with incredible effort. It's pure hell," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on X on Feb. 5, adding that the Epstein case had exposed an extreme level of corruption among Western elites.

The Epstein files contain disturbing and credible evidence of systematic and large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls, U.N. human rights experts said in a statement on Feb. 16.

"So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity," the experts added, demanding accountability in the case.

These concerns extend beyond public figures. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,117 U.S. adults, a majority said the Epstein files lowered their trust in the country's political and business leaders, with 75% believing the U.S. government is still hiding information about Epstein's alleged clients.

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