The Justice Department is not going to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein before the deadline. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday that the Justice Department will release "several hundred thousand" documents related to the sex offender, but conceded the first batch will fall short of the full disclosure that was supposed to arrive by day's end. A law that passed the House 427-1 in November required the government to turn over all non-exempt Epstein-related records within 30 days. President Trump signed the law on Nov. 19.
Blanche, speaking on Fox News, said additional troves would roll out in the "next couple of weeks," also in the hundreds of thousands of documents. He framed the slow pace as a safeguard. "There's a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim," he said. The law says the DOJ is "permitted to withhold certain information such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation."
On Capitol Hill, the lawmakers who forced the issue made clear they'll judge the release by its substance, particularly whether it names alleged offenders, Politico reports. Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican who led the disclosure push, said that after speaking with lawyers for Epstein's victims, he believes the FBI holds at least 20 names of men accused of sex crimes. "If we get a large production on Dec. 19, and it does not contain a single name of any male who is accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven't produced all the documents," he said. "It's that simple."
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat who partnered with Massie, called partial but meaningful releases a "positive step" if they're not heavily redacted and come with a clear schedule for full production, but added, "They ultimately must release all of it." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was more scathing. "The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be—the Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law," the Democrat said in a statement. "This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth."
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