The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday published a definitive new set of millions of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, under a law passed in November that required the release of all Epstein-related records.
Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, said at a news conference that the huge batch of files released this Friday marked the end of the Trump administration’s planned disclosures under the law. The new set includes more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, he said.
The files include “extensive” redactions, he said, given exceptions in the law that allow certain documents to be withheld, including victims’ identifying information or materials related to ongoing investigations. Previous disclosures were heavily edited, drawing criticism from some members of Congress.
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Reuters is analyzing the files.
Trump, who was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before they fell out years before Epstein’s first conviction, spent months resisting any disclosure until Democrats and Republicans in Congress forced him to concede, passing the law over his objections.
Trump has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein and denies that he had knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. But the scandal dogged him for months, in part because he promised to release the files during his 2024 presidential campaign.
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It was not immediately clear how many of the newly released files included mentions of Trump. The Justice Department’s first major release in December contained relatively few references to the president.
In a press release announcing the release of the documents, the Department of Justice wrote: “Some of the documents contain false and sensationalized allegations against President Trump that were presented to the FBI shortly before the 2020 election. To be clear, the allegations are baseless and false, and if they had an ounce of credibility, they would certainly have already been used as a weapon against President Trump.”
Blanche said the department also withheld some files based on legal privileges, including work product and attorney-client privileges. Some lawmakers said these holds appear to run counter to the law, which required the department to release internal communications related to decisions about whether to charge or investigate Epstein or any associates.
The Justice Department will provide Congress with a report that includes a summary of all redacts and withheld documents, as required by law, Blanche said in a letter sent to Congress on Friday.
Asked whether he believed all the files had been released in accordance with the law, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “We don’t think so.”
Epstein, a New York financier with ties to prominent political and business figures, was found hanging in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Although his death was ruled a suicide, it sparked years of conspiracy theories, some of which Trump himself spread to his supporters during his 2024 presidential campaign.
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Blanche expressed frustration over allegations that the Justice Department has refused to prosecute Epstein associates who may have participated in illegal activities.
“There’s this inherent assumption that somehow there’s a hidden portion of information about men that we know that we’re covering up or that we’re choosing not to process. That’s not the case,” he said.
The Epstein scandal has become a persistent political problem for Trump, who is already facing falling approval ratings on a range of issues,including his management of the economy and his crackdown on immigration.
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Blanche defended the slow pace of the releases, saying the voluminous files required hundreds of lawyers to work day and night for weeks to review them and prepare them for public release. The law had set a deadline of December 19, 2025, but officials said they needed more time to review the files.
