Khanna says release of 3.5 million pages of Epstein documents "raises questions" about withheld documents
Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, questioned the Justice Department's decision to release roughly 3.5 million pages of documents after identifying more than 6 million that may have been covered by the law.
"The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions. This raises questions as to why the rest are being withheld," he said in a statement.
Khanna said he will be reviewing the newly available documents to see if they include records that he has been pushing to be made public, such as FBI forms memorializing victim interview statements, a draft indictment and prosecution memorandum that was prepared during a federal investigation into Epstein in 2007, and emails and files from his computers.
"Failing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved and hurts the public's trust in our institutions," Khanna said in a statement.
Blanche says department wasn't trying to protect Trump
Blanche said the Justice Department and reviewers of the Epstein records in no way tried to protect President Trump.
"I hope that the work that the men and women within this department have done over the past two months hopefully is able to bring closure," Blanche said. "I think that what we told our reviewers is that that was the goal. There's this mantra out there that, 'Oh, you know, the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump,' and that's what we were telling — that's not true. That was never the case."
"We are always concerned about the victims," Blanche continued. "When we said that we were not legally allowed to release documents, that's a fact. That was true, it remains true today, and then with the act's passage, we are now able and directed to release documents, which is what we are doing."
More than 500 people were reviewing Epstein records and redacting "millions" of pages, Justice Department said
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer in a Jan. 15 letter that compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act is a "substantial undertaking" because many of the documents required a "manual review" to ensure information identifying victims was redacted.
"To date, the Department has employed over five hundred reviewers to review and redact millions of pages of materials from the investigations into Epstein and his convicted coconspirator, Maxwell," Justice Department leaders wrote.
Authorities redacted every woman depicted in images and videos, except Maxwell, Blanche says
Blanche said federal authorities redacted every image or video of every woman depicted in the records they're releasing, except for Ghislaine Maxwell. They also redacted images of exploited minors.
No images of men were redacted, Blanche said, unless it was impossible to redact the image of the woman without also redacting the man.
Justice Dept. releasing more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Friday the Justice Department is releasing more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images and videos related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Blanche said it appears that Epstein took some of the photos, though some were taken by others. He said the images and videos made public include "significant redactions" to protect survivors of Epstein's crimes.
The deputy attorney general said the federal authorities identified more than 6 million pages as being potentially responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed late last year. He said more than 500 lawyers and other combed through the records over nights, holidays and weekends.
Justice Department said Jan. 27 more documents would be released "in the near term"
In another letter to Berman and Engelmayer dated Jan. 27, Bondi and Blanche said they expected the Justice Department to make public "substantially all" of the records related to its investigation into Epstein "in the near term."
The two Justice Department leaders said "hundreds" of department employees were working to finish the review of Epstein records.
In December, DOJ promised more documents would come in next few weeks
The Justice Department said on Dec. 24 that "over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case" had been uncovered by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI, adding that the process of releasing the files may take "a few more weeks."
SDNY prosecutors filed federal sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019 and he was awaiting trial in that case when he died in jail. The office also prosecuted his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
What Epstein files have already been released?
The Justice Department published the first batch of files on Dec. 19, which consisted of five data sets containing thousands of photos of what appeared to be Epstein's properties in Manhattan and the Virgin Islands, along with photos of Epstein's travels — including some images of prominent figures, including former President Bill Clinton, President Trump, Mick Jagger, Woody Allen, Larry Summers and others. They have not been accused of wrongdoing.
The release also included PDF files of call logs, phone records, handwritten notes and police files.
The next day, another batch of documents was released, featuring grand jury presentations, interview transcripts, 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.
Some files were heavily redacted, drawing criticism from lawmakers who pushed for the release.
Then on Dec. 23, the Justice Department released a massive tranche of more than 11,000 files, totaling nearly 30,000 pages of photos, court records, emails, news clippings, videos and other records. Many of the files included mentions of Mr. Trump, though the Justice Department said some of the documents contained "untrue and sensationalist claims" about the president. The president has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Thousands of pages of materials from Epstein's estates and other sources had already been made public prior to the Justice Department's action.
Why are the files being released?
The Justice Department's release of the Epstein files comes after interest swelled earlier this year upon the release of an internal DOJ review, which found no "client list" among the evidence collected by investigators, despite earlier claims by the attorney general.
Following months of pressure from lawmakers, constituents and survivors, an effort to force a vote to compel the Justice Department to release the files gained enough support in the House in November. Lawmakers quickly approved the legislation, and Mr. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on Nov. 19, giving the Justice Department 30 days to release the files.
Though it faced a Dec. 19 deadline to release all the files, the Justice Department said it will release the files on a rolling basis due to the volume, citing the time it takes to make redactions to protect the survivors' privacy.
