The Department of Justice said on Friday it was releasing more than 3 million pages of files related to the investigations into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The latest release comes well over a month after the deadline imposed by Congress and President Trump for the agency to have released all its Epstein files.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
The newly released files include more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference Friday. A large amount of the files are images or videos that were not taken by Epstein himself or are of commercial pornography, he said, while some of the videos and images appeared to have been taken by Epstein or by others around him.
The Justice Department said it did not redact images of any men in the files, unless it was impossible to redact the woman in them without also redacting the man. Blanche said member of Congress were welcome to request to review any portions of the files unredacted.
Read more: Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Have Been Released, DOJ Says
During the press conference, Blanche said the Justice Department’s had identified more than 6 million pages of materials as “potentially responsive” to the Epstein investigation. The categories of documents that the Department were still withholding include information involving victims’ personal and medical information, depictions of child pornography, or anything that would jeopardize an active federal investigation. Blanche declined to comment on whether there was still an ongoing investigation related to Epstein’s associates, and pushed back on allegations that the Department is selectively holding back files that might be damaging to the President, who has a long history with Epstein going back decades.
“There’s this mantra out there that the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump… That’s not true. That was never the case,” Blanche said. “When we said that we were not legally allowed to release documents, that’s a fact. That was true. It remains true today. ”
On Tuesday, the DOJ said in the latest court filing that it has reviewed and redacted millions pages of Epstein files, but is still unable to pinpoint when all of the remaining files would be released.
“Department attorneys, agents, and others have dedicated days and weeks to compliance with the Act and will continue to do so until it is complete,” the filing says.
In November, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act with broad bipartisan support after months of Republican pushback. The bill ordered the Justice Department to publicly release all of its files related to the investigation within 30 days. Trump signed the bill on Nov. 19. after reversing his own opposition to the measure and ultimately urging Republicans to support it.