Epstein files go on display at New York pop-up exhibit

A US transparency advocacy group has opened a temporary exhibition in New York featuring only one central display: a complete print-out of files released by the United States Department of Justice, totaling roughly 3.5 million pages related to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

The installation, created by a Washington-based nonprofit called the Institute of Primary Facts, is titled “The Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room.”

It reportedly compiles the released documents under the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” into 3,437 bound volumes, all organized and numbered on shelves.

“The truth is hard to deny when it’s printed and bound for you to see,” the group states on its website describing the exhibit.

Visitors interested in viewing the material at the pop-up space in Tribeca can register online in advance. However, access is restricted: due to reported errors by the United States Department of Justice in failing to fully redact victims’ names, the general public is not permitted to directly access the files. Journalists and legal professionals are among those granted limited exceptions.

The exhibit also includes material referencing the long-standing relationship between US President Donald Trump and Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors.

The pair were reportedly close for decades before a falling out in 2004 over a property deal, after which Trump has said he distanced himself from Epstein and denied wrongdoing in connection with him, despite his name appearing repeatedly in the so-called “Epstein Files.”

David Garrett, one of the project’s creators, said the initiative is intended to promote transparency and accountability.

“We’re a pro-democracy organization, with the goal of educating the public using these kinds of pop-up museums and other in-real-life experiences to help people understand the corruption in the United States, the dangers to democracy,” he told AFP.

Garrett added that he believes there should be greater public scrutiny of how authorities have handled the release of the documents, arguing that “there needs to be real public outcry” and accountability.

The exhibition is open to the public until May 21.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev