The leaked Epstein files are inadmissible in court. These versions would be usable. And redacting them means they can't be used against Trump, even though we all know he's on it, since we have seen the originals. The official ones are way more important because they can be used. So their coming out has actual legal repercussions, and not just social repercussions.

And I also think there are more files than what leaked. So we won't have seen the originals of some of the upcoming redacted ones.

It's all because his Attorney General was asked if she would release the files and she said, yep, they're on my desk for review.

Not long before that, the administration was bragging about having them in hand, photo op and all, and saying that heads, presumably Democratic heads, would soon roll. SUDDENLY! Yeah, not releasing them, nothing to see here.

Elon said it so now randos know it's real

A lot of Trump voters are into the conspiracy theories around Epstein, and a few months ago the DOJ made a big deal of giving some right-wing influencers "phase one" of the Epstein files, which turned out to be mostly stuff that was already out. Last month, the DOJ and FBI put out a memo saying that no more documents will be released and that there is no Epstein client list, despite the Attorney General previously saying it was on her desk. MAGA didn't take that well, and Trump has been trying very hard to distract people from it.