US justice department to release thousands of Epstein files later, top official says
The US justice department will begin releasing long-awaited files on Jeffrey Epstein under new law, but not all documents will be made public on Friday, a senior official said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department initially expects to release “a few hundred thousand pages,” with more to be released in the coming weeks.
The Friday deadline was mandated by a bill that received near-unanimous support in Congress and was later signed into law by US President Donald Trump after reversing his previous opposition to the release.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said not releasing all the files before the deadline was violating the law.
The files relate to investigations into the infamous late sex offender, but much of the content is likely to be heavily redacted.
“We look at every single piece of paper that we produce to make sure that every victim’s name, their identity, their story is fully protected to the extent that it needs to be protected,” Blanche told Fox & Friends.
He said the justice department would release more material in the coming weeks.
“So I’m expecting a few hundred thousand today and another couple hundred thousand in the next few weeks,” Blanche said.
“There are a lot of eyes looking at these things, so we want to make sure that we protect every single victim when we produce the materials that we produce.”
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Justice Department was given until December 19 to release the files.
The bill specifically states that the government must release all non-confidential records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the Department of Justice’s possession related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein.
Democratic leaders say any delay by the Justice Department is illegal.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, “The Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failure to do so would be breaking the law.” he said.
He said Democratic senators are now working with attorneys for Epstein’s victims, as well as outside lawyers, to determine what has been released and what has been “covered up” by the Justice Department.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who joined hands with Democrat Ro Khanna to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, posted an image of the legislation on X and highlighted language stipulating that “all” of the files must be released within 30 days.
Khanna called for a full timeline to be given for the release of documents before the deadline.
House Democrats are releasing batches of documents and photos from Epstein’s estate without context.
Deputies say they are examining a trove of 20,000 documents and 95,000 photographs on the property.
Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia said in a press release that many of the documents arrived without context and that they were working to correct potential victims.
The documents and images include many high-profile names, including Trump, former US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Their appearance in photographs or documents is not evidence of any wrongdoing, and most of the men in the photo have said they were never involved in Epstein’s illegal activities.
