Epstein files don't join the dots to broader conspiracy - but his survivors could

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse are already looking beyond the release of the files in their pursuit of justice. It would seem sensible.

For the second time, a tranche of images and documents was released by the US Department of Justice and, for the second time, it didn’t detail the facts and failures which allowed Epstein to thrive.

If those key elements were in there, they were redacted.

The release of the files had been anticipated as a moment to unveil the whole story, to identify its characters and their crimes.

But this is a book with pages missing and piecing together the broader network that enabled sex-trafficking on an industrial scale won’t be easy.

It remains the fierce ambition for survivors, aware that Epstein was no one-man operation.

They know because they were there.

“I think the really important stuff wasn’t released,” Lisa Phillips told me.

A survivor of Epstein’s abuse, she said women who suffered at his hands had been sharing information and would have something to report in the New Year.

“We’re still fighting, we’re still doing our research and we will still bring whatever we find to the proper authorities. This is really important to us, we’re all mothers now and have kids the same age as we were, so this fight is to the heart.”

They have seen their story wrapped in politics, in all its management and manipulation.

The resistance to publish, the timing of release, the redactions – they are matters beyond their control that could scarcely matter more.

We have seen thousands of files released but they come without context or explanation.

While they each say something about Epstein, his crimes and depravity, they don’t join the dots to the broader conspiracy. No one is better placed to do that than its victims.

This news story is their story. Ultimately, it may be for them to tell because we’re hearing it from no one else.

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