The United States Department of Justice has begun to release part of its trove of files documenting the life and crimes of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But Friday’s much anticipated release is expected to fall short of the full publication of the Epstein file mandated under a recently passed law.
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Earlier in the day, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche warned that some documents would be delayed, in order to ensure the privacy of Epstein’s victims.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” Blanche told Fox News.
“So today, several hundred thousand, and then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”
That announcement, however, is likely to spur outrage — and the possibility of a backlash from the US Congress.
The legislature set a 30-day deadline for the release of the full investigative file when it passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19.
The law required the Department of Justice to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in its possession.
That includes records obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is part of the Justice Department, as well as internal communications about decisions to charge — or not charge — the late financier.
The law’s purview also extends to materials in the government’s possession related to Epstein’s co-defendant and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and documents about entities with “known or alleged ties” to Epstein.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, however, did contain some exemptions. It allowed the government to redact information that might be used in ongoing investigations or that might identify victims.
Explicit material was also allowed to be concealed.
Friday’s release on the Justice Department website included a search bar that promised the “full Epstein library”.
But on social media, some users complained that there was a queue to enter the Justice Department’s site and that the search tool failed to return results for terms related to the case.
Viewers also pointed out that many of the newly released materials appeared to be heavily redacted, with some pages .
Already, Congress members have warned the Trump administration could face consequences if it failed to release the full Epstein file.
“Any person who attempts to conceal or scrub the files will be subject to prosecution under the law,” Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, one of the law’s sponsors, posted on social media on Thursday.
The official account for the Democratic Party, meanwhile, underscored Blanche’s comments that the release will be partial and ongoing.
“Trump’s DOJ will not comply with today’s release deadline for the Epstein files,” the party wrote. “All files were required by law to be released today.”
Even some Republicans appeared to express frustration with the limited scope of Friday’s file drop.
“Release all the files,” Congress member Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on social media in the hours after Blanche’s interview. “It’s literally the law.”
On Thursday, in the lead-up to Friday’s release, another Republican representative, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, posted a 14-minute video on social media instructing the public about how to evaluate Friday’s file release.
“The victims lawyers have been in contact with me, and collectively they know that there are at least 20 names of men who are accused of sex crimes in the possession of the FBI. These would reside in the FD-302 forms,” he said.
“The FBI fills out these forms to summarise or memorialise what a witness gave them as far as testimony when they interviewed with the FBI.”
“So if we get a large production on December 19, and it does not contain a single name of any male who’s 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.”
This is a developing story. More details to come.
