Democrats accuse DoJ of not releasing millions of Epstein files despite legal requirement | Jeffrey Epstein
Survivors, lawmakers and watchdog groups have accused Donald Trump’s justice department of withholding records that were legally required to be released following the disclosure of millions of files from the investigation into disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Justice Department on Friday released 3 million pages of documents from its investigation into the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of teenage girls and his interactions with the wealthy and powerful, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton. The release was an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, all of which were subject to “extensive redaction,” according to assistant U.S. attorney Todd Blanche.
Friday’s document “marked the end” of the government’s efforts to comply with the law, drawing sharp condemnation from Democrats and the bill’s authors, Attorneys General Pam Bondi and Blanche wrote in a letter to Congress.
Robert Garcia, a Democratic member of the House oversight committee who played a leading role in the government’s investigation into the publication of the files, accused Bondi of breaking the law.
“Donald Trump and the Department of Justice have made clear that they plan to hide approximately 50% of the Epstein files while claiming to fully comply with the law. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning,” Garcia said in a statement. “Oversight committee subpoena instructs Pam Bondi to disclose all files to the committee while protecting survivors.”
He added: “We demand the names of Epstein’s accomplices and the names of men and pedophiles who abused women and girls. We will begin a thorough investigation of this latest limited production, but let’s be clear: our work and investigation is just beginning.”
A group of 20 Epstein survivors said in a joint statement that the document once again protects powerful figures and again exposes victims to harm.
“This latest release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is sold as transparency, but what it actually does is expose survivors,” they said in the statement. “As survivors, we should never be the ones cited, scrutinized, and re-traumatized as Epstein’s supporters continue to benefit from anonymity.”
They continued: “Once again, the names and identities of survivors are being revealed while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. This is outrageous.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “The law required the release of all Epstein files by December 19, 2025. The justice department delayed the release for 43 days, cherry-picking documents (many of which were heavily redacted) to hide the truth and delay justice for survivors.
“Until yesterday, the justice ministry admitted that it disclosed less than 1 percent of all documents. Now it says the job is over. Americans are very skeptical about this.
“The American people want the full truth, not exaggerated statistics about the Epstein files. AG Bondi thinks he can fool the American people. But we see through his lies. Stop the cover-up and follow the law.”
The announcement came more than a month after the Dec. 19 deadline set by the Republican-controlled Congress for disclosures. The federal law mandating the release followed months of mounting political pressure requiring the justice department to release documents related to the Epstein investigation.
While the files, the largest set of Epstein documents released to date, are still under review, the public disclosure revealed previously unknown financial ties and social connections between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK. email chain back and forth Between Epstein and Elon Musk in 2012.
On Friday, bipartisan sponsors of the transparency bill sent a formal letter to deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, requesting a meeting to review the unredacted files, saying Congress would not be able to carry out oversight duties or protect survivors under the justice department’s current approach.
“Congress cannot properly evaluate the department’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases without access to all records,” California Democratic representative Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican representative Thomas Massie wrote to Blanche, who was previously Trump’s personal lawyer.
In a separate statement Friday, Khanna said the partial release raises fundamental questions about the Justice Department’s compliance.
“DoJ said it identified more than 6 million potentially responsive pages but released only about 3.5 million after review and corrections,” he said. “This raises questions as to why the rest were detained.”
Khanna said he would closely monitor the release of certain materials the FBI has long sought, including victim interview statements, the draft indictment and prosecution memo from the 2007 Florida investigation, and extensive emails and files from Epstein’s computers.
“Not releasing these files only protects the powerful individuals involved and undermines the public’s trust in our institutions,” he said.
The justice ministry argued that privacy protections, legal sensitivities and the abundance of material justified its approach. But critics say the law is designed to prevent selective disclosure, and the latest release has deepened concerns that survivors are paying the price for the secrecy surrounding Epstein’s powerful associates.
Norm Eisen, executive chairman of the Democracy Defenders Fund and an Obama-era ethics lawyer, attacked the justice department for its “failure to fully release all appropriate files related to the Epstein investigation.”
“They are trying to sell this as full compliance and the ‘complete’ Epstein record,” Eisen said. “But everything about their release points to the same old playbook: heavy redactions, selective disclosures, and a publicly available archive that does not reliably reflect what the government actually has.”
