NEW YORK: A US transparency advocacy group has opened a temporary exhibition in New York City displaying a print-out of all files released by the US Department of Justice relating to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The exhibition, titled “The Donald J Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room,” contains roughly 3.5 million pages of documents organised into 3,437 bound volumes placed on shelves inside a library space in the Tribeca area.
The project was created by the Institute of Primary Facts, a Washington-based nonprofit organisation advocating transparency and public accountability.
“The truth is hard to deny when it’s printed and bound for you to see,” reads the organisation’s website describing the exhibition.
Visitors interested in viewing the files are required to register online before entering the temporary reading room.
However, organisers said the general public is not permitted to directly consult the documents because the US Department of Justice allegedly failed to properly redact the names of some victims included in the files.
Exceptions are being made for certain professionals, including journalists and lawyers.
The exhibition also includes a display examining the longstanding relationship between US President Donald Trump and Epstein.
According to organisers, Trump and Epstein maintained ties for decades before reportedly falling out in 2004 following a dispute over a property deal.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing despite his name appearing multiple times in the so-called “Epstein Files.”
Speaking to AFP, project creator David Garrett said the initiative aimed to educate the public about corruption and democratic accountability in the United States.
“We’re a pro-democracy organisation, with the goal of educating the public using these kinds of pop-up museums and other in-real-life experiences,” Garrett said.
He added that the group hoped the exhibition would encourage greater public scrutiny over how the Trump administration handled the release of the Epstein-related documents.
“And what we attempted to do here was to create, or help to create public outcry to have real accountability,” he added.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until May 21.
