US Justice Division says it requires weeks to course of newly discovered Epstein-related recordsdata beneath transparency and courtroom guidelines.
Printed On 24 Dec 2025
Greater than one million extra paperwork which are probably associated to late intercourse offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein have been uncovered, in line with the US Division of Justice (DOJ).
In a social media publish on Wednesday, the DOJ mentioned it’s reviewing the paperwork and can want “a number of extra weeks” earlier than continuing with a congressionally mandated launch of the knowledge.
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“The US Legal professional for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have knowledgeable the Division of Justice that they’ve uncovered over one million extra paperwork probably associated to the Jeffrey Epstein case,” the DOJ mentioned in an announcement, including that extra time is required to adjust to the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act, the legislation enacted final month that requires the federal government to open its recordsdata on Epstein and his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.
The DOJ insisted in its assertion that its legal professionals are “working across the clock” to assessment these paperwork and make the redactions required beneath the legislation, handed practically unanimously by Congress.
“Because of the mass quantity of fabric, this course of might take a number of extra weeks. The Division will proceed to completely adjust to federal legislation and President [Donald] Trump’s course to launch the recordsdata,” the DOJ mentioned.
Full disclosure
A dozen US senators are calling on the Justice Division’s watchdog to look at the division’s failure to launch all data pertaining to Epstein by Friday’s congressionally mandated deadline, saying victims “deserve full disclosure” and the “peace of thoughts” of an impartial audit.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, a member of Trump’s Republican Get together, joined 11 Democrats in signing a letter on Wednesday urging Appearing Inspector Common Don Berthiaume to audit the Justice Division’s compliance with the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act.
“Given the [Trump] Administration’s historic hostility to releasing the recordsdata, politicisation of the Epstein case extra broadly, and failure to adjust to the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act, a impartial evaluation of its compliance with the statutory disclosure necessities is crucial,” the senators wrote.
Full transparency, they mentioned, “is crucial in figuring out members of our society who enabled and took part in Epstein’s crimes”.
Republican Consultant Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of the transparency act, posted on Wednesday on X: “DOJ did break the legislation by making unlawful redactions and by lacking the deadline.”
Regardless of the deadline, the Justice Division has mentioned it plans to launch data on a rolling foundation. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming means of obscuring survivors’ names and different figuring out data.
Extra batches of data had been launched over the weekend and on Tuesday. The division has not given any discover when extra data would possibly arrive.
“The rationale why we’re nonetheless reviewing paperwork and nonetheless persevering with our course of is solely to guard victims,” Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche advised the NBC tv community’s Meet the Press programme on Sunday.
“So the identical people which are on the market complaining concerning the lack of paperwork that had been produced on Friday are the identical people who apparently don’t need us to guard victims,” he argued.
