Justice Department ends Epstein review with big document release

Ryan Tarinelli and Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 30, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said it is releasing a sprawling new trove of documents Friday tied to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, more than a month after the department blew through a statutory deadline to produce the documents.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference that more than 3 million additional pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, would be published throughout the day.

The department, in a letter to Congress also released Friday, said the release “marks the Department’s compliance with its production obligations” under a law Congress passed last year that ordered the release of documents and investigative materials related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

With the new release, there will be almost 3.5 million pages released under the statute, the department said. The department had released some files on Dec. 19, the original deadline in the law.

The new disclosure follows weeks of heavy criticism from Democrats and the survivors of Epstein’s abuse about the department’s noncompliance with the law, which has been plagued with issues that have exacerbated questions about whether the department would fully comply.

The DOJ told Congress in the letter its full obligations under the law would be “completed” after submitting a formal report to Congress and publishing written justifications in the Federal Register.

The existence of the investigative files on Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking, has driven a wave of speculation over whether the documents could implicate high-profile figures in the sexual exploitation of girls.

Critics of the department’s document rollout, including the main backers of the legislation, have argued that the department overly redacted documents, asserted privileges the law did not allow for and violated the law by missing the deadline for full compliance. And of the fraction of the documents the public did initially receive, there were abnormal and extreme redactions with little or no explanation, critics have argued.

Blanche at times struck a defensive tone in announcing the release, pushing back on questions about criticisms from members of Congress and victims who claimed the DOJ had delayed the release of the files. Blanche said the DOJ reviewed 6 million pages connected with the release, “two Eiffel Towers’” worth, to redact and prepare for public release.

“We obviously are not violating the 30-day requirement if we are taking our time to comply with the act,” Blanche said.

“There was this mantra out there that ‘the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump,’” Blanche said. “That’s not true.’

“We did not protect Trump or anyone else. There is a thirst for information that, I think, will not be satisfied by the review of these documents. I can’t do anything about it.”

Blanche said DOJ officials were in touch with the White House, and officials there were notified of the Friday release ahead of time. Blanche claimed that his review of documents was independent and no White House officials directed their actions.

“They had nothing to do with the review; they had no oversight over this review,” Blanche said of White House officials.

Blanche said the department decided to redact the images of women in photos included in the release but did not redact the images of men in the photos. However, he said officials did redact the images of men where it was “impossible” to do so without revealing the identities of women in the photos.

Blanche said members of Congress could also get access to unredacted files through the DOJ.

Last year, Congress overwhelmingly passed the legislation, which ordered the department to publish in a searchable format all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein and Maxwell within 30 days of enactment.