DOJ Says It’s Reviewing 'A Million More' Potential Epstein Files
The revelation of new potential documents raises new questions about the government‘s ability to comply with the transparency law.
The US Justice Department said that federal prosecutors in New York have identified and handed over “a million more documents” potentially related to the probe into Jeffrey Epstein, signaling a likely significant expansion of public disclosures about the convicted sex offender that began last week.
The DOJ said in a post on X Wednesday that it has received the documents from the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and will review them for release.
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the DOJ said in its post. “Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks.”
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and charged with sex-trafficking in an indictment brought by prosecutors in Manhattan. A federal judge earlier this month granted the government’s request to unseal materials from the investigation into Epstein in accordance with the recently-passed Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The revelation of new potential documents raises new questions about the government‘s ability to comply with the transparency law, which required the DOJ to release all documents from the Epstein investigations by last Friday — a deadline the government has already been criticized for failing to meet.
The Justice Department has released thousands of pages of heavily redacted records and photos — mostly in two batches several days apart — stemming from investigations of the convicted sex offender. There have been technical snafus, and reversals on whether to keep certain pages public.
A separate judge in New York has ordered the release of similar information in the case against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years prison for aiding his sex-trafficking conspiracy. A judge in Florida also approved the release of documents related to an earlier investigation into the deceased financier, which never resulted in an indictment.
