What to know about the latest Epstein files release:
- The Justice Department early Tuesday morning released tens of thousands of additional documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files, unveiling another group of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
- The law, enacted in November, required the department to produce its files related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell by Dec. 19, but the department said the volume of material meant they would need to be released on a rolling basis to redact information about survivors.
- The department uploaded the latest batch of records to the DOJ repository housing both new files and previously released documents. The new material can be accessed here, in "Data Set 8" under the section labeled "Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R.4405)."
- The files released Friday mostly consisted of thousands of Epstein's personal photographs, some of which showed prominent figures. Another group of files released Saturday included transcripts of grand jury testimony in various cases brought against Epstein.
- CBS News has a team of journalists examining the latest Epstein files release and will highlight notable discoveries below.
Latest release includes over 11,000 files
The Justice Department's newest release of files on Epstein appears to be its largest to date, with upwards of 11,000 files, many of which are multiple pages. The trove includes documents and hundreds of videos.
The data set appears to include FBI documents, internal Justice Department communications, court subpoenas, other legal documents and records related to Epstein's 2019 death in federal custody, according to an initial review by CBS News.
Thousands of new documents from Epstein files released overnight
The Justice Department released a massive new trove of records on Jeffrey Epstein early Tuesday.
33m agoWhat Epstein files have already been released?
The initial batch of files came on Friday, Dec. 19, and consisted of five data sets.
The first data set was the largest of the batch. It included 3,158 photos of what appeared to be Epstein's properties in Manhattan and the Virgin Islands, apparently taken by investigators.
The second set included 574 photos of Epstein's travels and included some images of prominent figures. The third set included 67 PDF files, mostly inventories of photos found on CDs and DVDs and in scrapbooks. Many of those files included graphic material that was redacted.
The fourth batch of documents included 152 PDF files of call logs, phone records, handwritten notes and police files. The fifth group consisted of 120 images of hard drives, folders and boxes, apparently taken by investigators.
The final two batches of documents were released on Saturday. The sixth data set featured 13 files of grand jury presentations and interview transcripts. The seventh includes 17 more files from grand jury proceedings, court records and an internal Justice Department transcript of an interview with the U.S. attorney involved in an earlier federal investigation into Epstein in the mid-2000s.
Justice Department faces backlash over limited release of Epstein files so far
The Justice Department is facing continued backlash over its partial releases of the Epstein files, with lawmakers and survivors denouncing the limited scope of the disclosures.
A group of survivors called on Congress to hold hearings and take legal action to demand compliance with the law.
"It is alarming that the United States Department of Justice, the very agency tasked with upholding the law, has violated the law, both by withholding massive quantities of documents, and by failing to redact survivor identities," they said in a statement Monday.
The survivors said the government released "a fraction of the files," and said the material that was disclosed was "riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a resolution Monday that would direct the upper chamber to "initiate legal actions" against the Justice Department to demand that it comply with the law. The New York Democrat is expected to force a vote on the measure when the Senate reconvenes in the new year.
Read more here.
