The Justice Department said Monday that it is still reviewing more than two million documents potentially related to Jeffrey Epstein, according to the latest court filing.
In a letter to Manhattan federal Judge Paul Engelmayer, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said “substantial work remains to be done” before the remaining files can be publicly released. They said 12,285 documents have been released so far.
“There are more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Act that are in various phases of review,” they said in the filing.
The New York Times and Reuters reported last week that the DOJ was reviewing about 5.2 million pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Monday’s DOJ filing does not clearly indicate how many pages are in the two million documents. However, the filing includes a disclaimer that a portion of the documents “are copies of (or largely duplicative of) documents that had already been collected.”
Epstein, who pled guilty to state prostitution-related charges in 2008, was accused years later of abusing dozens of underage girls and women. He was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 before his trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress in November, the Justice Department was required to publicly release all the files by Dec. 19. Monday’s filing indicates, however, that the DOJ expects to review documents for several more weeks.
The files contain videos, audio files, photos and documents that span decades. The initial release featured photos of Epstein with prominent figures, including co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, President Donald Trump and Melania Trump.
Former President Bill Clinton was also featured in some images, though no details or further context were provided about the timing or where the photos were taken.
Many of the images appeared to show underage girls. Their faces were redacted.
The files also contained lists of employees from Epstein’s properties and notes from law enforcement interviews with Epstein’s alleged victims.
The Justice Department said about 400 lawyers are reviewing the remaining batch of documents. The DOJ said it is working to release the files as soon as possible while also protecting the victims’ identities as is required by law.
“Required redactions to protect victims take time, but they will not stop these materials from being released. The Attorney General’s and this Administration’s goal is simple: transparency and protecting victims,” Blanche posted in a statement on social media last week.
A bipartisan group of senators wrote a letter last month to DOJ Acting Inspector General Don Berthiaume requesting an audit of the department’s noncompliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“Full transparency — as called for bravely and repeatedly by survivors — is essential in identifying members of our society who enabled and participated in Epstein’s crimes,” the letter said. “Survivors deserve full disclosure. They also deserve the peace of mind that would be afforded by an independent audit of the Department’s compliance.”
