The Justice Department (DOJ) started releasing materials related to the numerous investigations of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, which was the deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The law, signed by President Donald Trump last month, required the Justice Department to “make publicly available…all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein, his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, and other individuals named or referred to in federal investigations into the disgraced financier, within 30 days.
The DOJ categorized what it calls the “full Epstein library” into different types: court records from various cases; material released in response to public records requests; files released in September to the House Oversight Committee, much of which was already public; and disclosures the department made to comply with the law Congress passed and Trump signed in November.
However, the Trump Administration cautioned earlier on Friday that it wasn’t releasing all the files it had on Friday as required by law, blaming the delay on the extent of redactions it had to make to safeguard victims.
“What we’re doing is we’re looking at every single piece of paper we’re going to produce, ensuring that every victim, their name, their identity, and their story to the degree it needs to be protected is fully protected,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News on Friday, hours before the release.
Blanche added that several hundred thousand records are expected to be released over the next few weeks.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who joined with Rep. Thomas Massie in a bipartisan effort to force the release of the files, warned that Congress could hold impeachment hearings, “if it comes to that,” for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche if they don’t comply with the law mandating the full release of the documents.
Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees stated on Friday that they were “examining all legal options” against the DOJ for failing to adhere to the new law.
“Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law as they continue to cover up the facts and evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring,” the committees said. “The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from the DOJ.”
The law Trump signed did not specify a penalty if the Trump Administration failed to comply within 30 days.
The delay in releasing all the files is likely to extend the focus on the government’s investigations into Epstein, which has troubled President Donald Trump throughout his second term. Trump and Epstein were friends for years and were publicly photographed together several times. The President has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein and has long denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s actions.
Public interest in the so-called Epstein files has increased significantly in the last year after Trump and his closest allies, many of whom are now in high-level cabinet positions, seemed to back away from a campaign promise to release all the documents.
Upon entering the White House for his second term, Trump began downplaying the importance of the files and eventually called the Epstein saga a “hoax.”
have spent years urging lawmakers to release the files, alleging that the failure to do so would amount to protecting the rich and influential figures linked to the late financier.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act instructs the Justice Department to make public a wide range of unclassified documents within 30 days, including flight logs, DOJ memos, internal correspondence, immunity deals, metadata, and more. The law allows for redactions to protect the identities of victims, comply with rules regarding grand jury secrecy, and avoid releasing illegal pornographic material.
The legislation was passed by both chambers of Congress last month despite strong opposition from Trump and concerns from House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that the bill, as written, might still unfairly expose individuals not accused of wrongdoing.