The U.S. Department of Justice has released documents related to its investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an action that has affected political and business figures including U.S. President Trump. The disclosure comes as Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill in November requiring the Justice Department to release relevant documents. Trump had long resisted the move, but finally gave in and signed the bill under pressure from Republican lawmakers.
The bill would require the release of investigative records, flight logs, travel documents, immunity agreements, internal department communications and documents related to Epstein's 2019 death. But the bill also contains protections for survivors and allows exceptions for ongoing investigations.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Friday that the Justice Department has organized a team of more than 200 attorneys to screen which materials meet the disclosure requirements of the new law.
According to Fox News, Blanche said in the letter: "This process identified more than 1,200 names listed as victims or their relatives." He said that the Department of Justice redacted the content involving the names of these individuals and any material that might lead to their identification.
But Blanche also told MPs that the "volume of material that needed to be reviewed" meant it would not be possible to release all relevant documents by Friday, as required by law. He said the Justice Department plans to complete the release of all documents within the next two weeks.
The Justice Department's website at one point on Friday required users to wait in line to access relevant materials, underscoring the heightened public concern over the documents. The Justice Department also provides search functionality but acknowledges that its usefulness is limited, saying that "due to technical limitations and formatting issues with some of the material (such as handwritten text), some of the contents of these documents may not be electronically searchable or the search results may not be reliable."
Similar to previous disclosures, the documents released Friday contain photos of celebrities and politicians from Epstein's social circle, including a photo of Bill Clinton and the late musician Michael Jackson with a woman whose face was obscured.
After the Department of Justice released relevant documents, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson issued a statement saying that by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena requests, and recently calling for further investigations of Epstein’s Democratic friends, the Trump administration has done more for victims than Democrats have ever done before.
She also wrote: "While President Trump has made good on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they are seeking funding and meetings with Epstein after he was already convicted as a sex offender. The American people deserve answers."