The Justice Department on Friday released a trove of documents on its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, several hours ahead of the deadline imposed by Congress.
The files made public on Friday — many of which are heavily redacted — do not encompass all of the DOJ’s documents from the investigation of the convicted sex offender, and the partial release is not in line with what The Epstein Files Transparency Act requires of the Justice Department. It includes an unclassified summary of portions that are redacted or withheld from the public.
It’s unclear what Congress is able to do to compel the agency to release the remaining files before 11:59 p.m. ET Friday. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a member of the House Oversight Committee, told MS NOW on Thursday that they would seek “criminal and civil accountability” if the Justice Department did not comply with the legislation.
In a letter to members of Congress explaining its process of reviewing and producing the files, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said some materials are still in the “final stages of review” and estimated that it would be completed “over the next two weeks.” He told Fox News earlier on Friday that the agency would release “several hundred thousand more” documents “over the next couple weeks.”
In a statement on X after the first set of documents was released, Blanche said the partial release was “consistent with the law and with protections for victims.”
As required by the law, the documents can be searched on and downloaded from the Justice Department’s website.
The agency had until midnight on Friday to release the documents as required by The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress overwhelmingly passed in November to compel the agency to make public its files related to the late convicted sex offender.
On Friday evening, Khanna demanded the Justice Department provide “a clear timeline of when the rest of the documents will be released, and an explanation for why they did not release all of them today.”
“My concern is whether they are releasing the documents in good faith, even if it’s piecemeal, or whether this is just more of the old documents being put out and a cover-up,” he said. “And… our lawyers are looking through it. Survivors’ lawyers are looking through it. I don’t know whether there, there is new information, or whether it’s stonewalling, but that, to me, is the biggest issue in terms of the quality of the release, more than just the quantity.”
The release marks a significant concession from the Trump administration and the president himself, who fought against the release of the files and went so far as to tell Republicans to move on from what he deemed a “hoax” by Democrats to divert focus from the president’s agenda.
DOJ’s action came under significant pressure from congressional Republicans, who sided with Democrats to force a vote in the House to pass legislation that was then overwhelmingly adopted by the Senate.
It remains to be seen whether the release of the material will quiet the clamor for more information on Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in a New York jail cell in 2019. Stoked by conspiracy theories from Trump allies, that base has long demanded the names of powerful men they believe may have abused underage girls. Attorney General Pam Bondi sparked a furor in July when she issued a memo declaring the case essentially closed, saying that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no list of Epstein’s clients, despite having previously claimed otherwise. The legislation states that redactions in the files must be justified in writing, published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress. Bondi is also required to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees within 15 days that includes “categories of records released and withheld,” a summary of redactions made by the agency and an unredacted list of government officials and “politically exposed persons named or referenced” in the files. Although Democrats have criticized the Justice Department for not making all the documents available to the public as was required, the White House framed the release as a win for Epstein’s victims. “By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Recommended
