FBI Director Kash Patel said this week in an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge that Jeffrey Epstein’s estate is refusing to share key records sought by investigators.
He said the government and the estate hold “separate boxes” of information, limiting what the FBI can access as it reviews a new referral in the case. Patel noted that federal officials have repeatedly requested materials from the estate without success. He said the FBI will evaluate whatever evidence it can obtain as the inquiry moves forward.
Patel said on Catherine Herridge Reports, “Based on the new referral, we’ll take a look at that and see what evidence comes, but there’s an important distinction. The information that the government possesses versus the information that the Epstein estate possesses, those are two separate boxes of information and the Epstein estate has not been willing to share information with the U.S. government…and so even though we’ve requested them to do so.”
Why It Matters
Patel’s comments come as the Trump administration remains under pressure to release the so-called Epstein files, related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The FBI and DOJ said earlier in the summer that there was no more information to be released, sparking backlash from MAGA supporters and Democrats alike after President Donald Trump promised that all information would be made public.
What To Know
Herridge asked Patel about the case after the president signed a bill that set a 30-day deadline to force the release of the Epstein files.
The FBI director said he was working with the DOJ to determine what could lawfully be produced, but that there were also orders in place to keep certain details classified. Patel said he would try to keep redactions to a minimum.
“We have in our productions to Congress, which have been historic to this year, and we will treat every matter in the same fashion while upholding, always, victims’ rights,” Patel said.
Herridge also raised the issue of the DOJ probe announced in the past few weeks, looking into the relationship between Democrats and former President Bill Clinton. She asked if the investigation was limited to Democrats, to which Patel responded: “We’ll just follow the facts.”
On the issue of the Epstein estate and the files it holds, Patel said the FBI had a separate box of information from the estate, and that agents had asked to share the information to no avail.
Some of the files the estate holds have been released by the House Oversight Committee, including several thousand emails from Epstein to various contacts over the years.
As Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi had promised the Epstein files would be released, before seeming to backtrack, Herridge asked what Patel had to say to those skeptical of “actual justice” under this administration. Patel said the FBI’s work showed a strong record of arresting violent felons and investigating alleged espionage.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said in a recent post on Truth Social: “Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, because I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!”
California Democratic Representative Garcia told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on November 17: “We’re fighting to ensure that those documents are released. And by the way, Republicans have tried to stall every single time they get more documents. They’ve not wanted to release them. We have, we’re working with the Epstein estate. We expect even more documents to come out from the Epstein estate. But we also know that what the DOJ has is enormous. It is dramatically more documents, photos, possibly videos that the Epstein estate does not have. And so that’s what we need, and Pam Bondi should release those files now.”
What Happens Next
Democrats in the House have promised more files from the Epstein estate will be released, while the Trump administration has yet to honor the law the president signed to force the release of DOJ files.
Update 11/25/25, 1:37 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
