The Department of Justice released millions of files Friday afternoon on Jeffrey Epstein’s case, the latest document dump from the Trump administration.
The document release includes 3.5 million additional files related to Epstein, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 photos.
The files included Ghislaine Maxwell’s booking photos, her home search warrants and many uncorroborated tips to law enforcement, including some that mention President Donald Trump. Records related to Epstein’s time in federal prison are also included, like psychological evaluations from July and early August 2019, before he was found dead in his cell.
At least one file was removed from the portal after publication, but was made accessible again. The file seems to describe tips to the FBI related to Epstein, some of which name Trump. A DOJ spokesperson told NOTUS that the file was temporarily “down due to overload.”
Some of Epstein’s victims told the press Friday that their names were not redacted in the published files.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference Friday morning that “mistakes are inevitable.” He also said that there are documents being withheld from release because of active investigations. He also said the DOJ has 6 million documents total.
“The categories of documents withheld include those permitted under the act to be withheld,” Blanche said during the press conference. “Congress, in their wisdom, allowed us to withhold documents if there were ongoing criminal investigations.”
This release of files comes more than a month after one from late December, which included mentions of Trump. The files are coming months after the president signed a bipartisan measure passed by Congress compelling the DOJ to release all the files within 30 days, a mandate the department has not honored.
“The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions. This raises questions as to why the rest are being withheld. I will be reviewing closely to see if they release what I’ve been pushing for,” Rep. Ro Khanna, coauthor of the bipartisan measure, wrote in a statement.
He wrote that within this release of files from the DOJ, he’s looking for victim interview statements, a draft indictment from Epstein’s 2007 investigation in Florida, and “hundreds of thousands of emails and files from Epstein’s computers.”
“Failing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions,” Khanna wrote.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Friday that the DOJ should release all the files.
“Donald Trump and his Department of Justice have now made it clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law. This is outrageous and incredibly concerning,” he said in the statement. “We will begin a thorough review of this latest limited production, but let’s be clear: our work and investigation are just getting started.”
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