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Representatives for victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> condemned the US Department of Justice on Friday for only partially releasing<\/a> investigative documents while at least one survivor said she felt \u201credeemed\u201d by the documents.<\/p>\n The documents were released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act<\/a>, which mandated the disclosures by 19 December. The law allows for records to be withheld if they threaten current investigations, disrupt national security or identify Epstein\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n The initial disclosure, however, did not appear to be in keeping with this law. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said the justice department would not release all its files on Friday, despite the deadline and the files published on Friday afternoon did not appear to be comprehensive. \u201cI expect that we\u2019re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,\u201d Blanche said in an Fox News interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top lawmakers responded by threatening legal action \u201cin the face of this violation of federal law\u201d.<\/p>\n Spencer Kuvin, an attorney representing Epstein survivors, said in a statement after the release that it was \u201cno great surprise\u201d the justice department was failing to meet the deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the Department of Justice has dragged its feet regarding these documents for the last 18 years so the victims don\u2019t expect much by way of openness or honesty,\u201d Kuvin said. \u201cThese young women have been lied to and repeatedly denied justice by system that was meant to protect them. The public need to demand more and continue to require accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has represented<\/a> more than 20 Epstein survivors, told CNN after the disclosures that the justice department had repeatedly failed victims.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was resistance by this administration to releasing the Epstein files,\u201d she said. \u201cThe question is, is there a coverup. What are they hiding? What is in there that perhaps some powerful people would not like revealed? \u2026 Survivors are fighting to have the release of all the files [because] they want accountability. If there are rich, powerful, famous men who engaged in or assisted in or conspired to sex traffic underage girls, they want to know who those people are. They want to know what the evidence against them was.\u201d<\/p>\n Jess Michaels, an Epstein survivor who has been pushing for the disclosures<\/a>, said<\/a> on MS Now that she was \u201chighly emotional\u201d, but glad the justice department\u2019s obfuscations were now so apparent to the public: \u201cI\u2019m also feeling strangely validated, because in plain sight, and even with an act of Congress, we\u2019re seeing the exact same delays, negligence, corruption, incompetence that we\u2019ve seen consistently and have been advocating about. So they\u2019ve actually proved our point.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Maria Farmer, an Epstein survivor, said in an email shortly after the files were published that the fact that some of them were finally being made public was a day of \u201ctriumph and tragedy for Maria and so many survivors\u201d.<\/p>\n The records, she said, confirmed that Farmer had reported the crimes of Epstein and his confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, to the FBI in 1996.<\/p>\n \u201cHad the government done their job, and properly investigated Maria\u2019s report, over 1,000 victims could have been spared and 30 years of trauma avoided,\u201d Farmer said. \u201cAfter several years of asking for her records, the government finally released at least some of them today.\u201d Freeman highlighted a document from the files that she said verified Farmer\u2019s original complaint.<\/p>\n On CNN, Freeman read a statement on behalf of Farmer, saying: \u201cThank you for believing me. I feel redeemed. This is one of the best days of my life. Of course, it\u2019s mixed with the fact that I\u2019m devastated about all the other girls \u2026 who were harmed because the FBI didn\u2019t do their job \u2026 I\u2019m shedding tears of joy for myself, but also tears of sorrow for all the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n Farmer, an artist, was among the first<\/a> to report Epstein and Maxwell of sexual crimes in the 1990s.<\/p>\n Trump signed the legislation mandating the Epstein file disclosures after months of waffling in his support of releasing these files. While Trump had vowed to release these files on the campaign trail, his justice department repeatedly failed to deliver on this promise, largely releasing documents that had already been in the public domain.<\/p>\n The justice department faced backlash when it announced<\/a> in July that there was no Epstein client list and claimed: \u201cWhile we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government\u2019s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> that the president\u2019s name was in these files at multiple points. Trump has denied any knowledge of, or involvement in, Epstein\u2019s crimes, and has emphatically denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n