New Delhi, Dec. 20 -- The US Justice Department has released an initial tranche of long-awaited documents linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, reigniting global scrutiny of one of the most disturbing abuse scandals in recent history.

The files - which include photographs, videos and investigative material - were made public after Congress passed legislation mandating their full release by Friday. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who accuse it of failing to meet its legal obligations after officials said not all documents could be released by the deadline. Many of the thousands of pages made public are also heavily redacted.

The first batch of documents names and ...