The U.S. Department of Justice has released extensive new investigative files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference Friday that the department has released more than 3 million pages of documents, more than 2,000 videos and more than 180,000 images.
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He said the release meant the ministry had met the legal requirements passed by parliament last year.
“Today’s announcement marks the conclusion of a highly comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American public and compliance with the Act,” Blanche said.
But President Donald Trump’s administration has faced intense scrutiny over the pace of releasing the files and redactions in public documents.
Mr. Trump himself has faced questions about his past ties to Mr. Epstein, with whom he cultivated an influential network.
Blanche on Friday dismissed rumors that the Justice Department sought to protect powerful people, including Trump.
President Trump has admitted to being a longtime friend of the financier, but has denied any knowledge of the minor sex trafficking ring that prosecutors say was led by Epstein.
“There’s a built-in assumption that somehow information about the men we know is being withheld, that we’re covering it up, or we’re not covering it up, and we’re choosing not to prosecute,” Blanche said. “it’s not.”
The Justice Department initially missed a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress to release all files.
The publication is the result of the Epstein File Transparency Act, passed in November with bipartisan support, forcing the release of all federal documents related to Epstein.
In response to the law, the Justice Department announced it had ordered hundreds of lawyers to scrutinize records to determine what needs to be covered to protect the identities of sexual abuse victims.
Blanche said the department withheld any material that could jeopardize the ongoing investigation or expose potential victims.
Blanche said all the women in Epstein’s files except Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend who was also convicted of child sex trafficking, are hidden in the videos and images released Friday.
Some of Epstein’s past victims have accused the department of excessive redactions and withholding, and critics say the blacked-out files included previously released documents.
On Friday, several Democratic lawmakers questioned what the Justice Department had chosen to withhold.
“The Department of Justice has identified more than 6 million potentially responsive pages, but has said it will only release about 3.5 million pages after review and editing. This begs the question why the rest are being withheld,” said Democrat Ro Khanna, a co-sponsor of the law requiring publication.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer asked officials to clearly state whether all documents related to Trump have been released.
“Yes or no? I need an answer,” he said.
The Justice Department released the first batch of Epstein-related documents in December, but fell short of the full release required by law in November.
However, the release included previously unreleased flight records showing Trump flying on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s. These trips appear to have taken place before President Trump said the two had fallen out.
Previous releases have included images showing celebrities such as tech billionaire Bill Gates, former Trump aide Steve Bannon, director Woody Allen and former US President Bill Clinton interacting with Mr Epstein, sometimes on his private island.
Details were not yet revealed in the latest release. Early revelations include email exchanges with billionaire Elon Musk about Epstein’s possible visit to the island. A series of documents between Mr. Epstein and Mr. Bannon included references to Mr. Trump in the lead-up to Mr. Epstein’s death. and investigative documents surrounding Epstein’s imprisonment and death.
To date, other than Maxwell, no one pictured or mentioned in the release has been charged with a crime.
Following her 2021 conviction, she is serving a 20-year sentence, but continues to deny wrongdoing.
Epstein died of an apparent suicide in a New York jail in August 2019, one month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
He was previously convicted of state sex crimes in Florida in 2008 as part of a plea deal that was widely criticized for his leniency. He was detained for a total of 13 months.
One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, also filed a lawsuit against Epstein, accusing him of arranging sexual encounters with politicians, businessmen, academics and other influential figures when she was a minor.
All of the men identified by Giuffre, who died in Australia in April 2025, deny the charges.
Those she accused included Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, who denied the allegations but settled a lawsuit brought by Mr Giuffre for an undisclosed sum.
In October, his younger brother, King Charles III of England, stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal title as a result of the controversy.
