The Justice Department announced on Monday that over 2 million files possibly linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are currently under review, with only a few thousand having been assessed and released so far.
In a recent court filing, the department indicated it has added 12,285 documents to the Epstein Library webpage since December 19, amounting to around 125,575 pages in total.
Thanks to the Epstein File Transparency Act, which was signed into law by President Trump last November, the Justice Department has until December 19, 2025, to finish reviewing and releasing all Epstein-related documents it holds.
However, the Trump administration conveyed it wouldn’t meet that timeline, largely due to the incredible volume of material.
“Over 2 million documents identified as potentially relevant to the Act are still in various stages of review and redaction,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a notification sent to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, on behalf of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
On Christmas Eve, officials announced they had found more than 1 million documents possibly concerning Epstein, stating that it would require additional weeks for thorough examination.
“With an extensive initial review of these documents, the Department anticipates that many will be duplicates of documents already received for review. Still, they will undergo a processing and deduplication procedure,” Clayton elaborated.
According to the filing, over 400 attorneys from across the department have been appointed to spend significant time reviewing these files, including more than 125 attorneys in the Southern District of New York alone.
So far, about 125,575 pages of Epstein-related documents have been released.
The Justice Department is under close scrutiny for not being able to meet the December 19, 2025 deadline for releasing the Epstein files.
“The aim of these efforts is to ensure the timely release of materials under the Act while simultaneously protecting victims’ privacy as much as possible, in line with Department policy and court orders,” Creighton emphasized.
The Justice Department did not provide a specific timeline for when the release of the files will be completed, explaining in its letter on Monday that the process would continue “in the coming weeks.”
Latest updates on the release of the Epstein files
The sponsors of the Epstein File Transparency Act, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), asserted that the administration has breached the law by missing the deadline of December 19 and by submitting overly redacted files.
The Justice Department maintains that these redactions are essential to protect victims and to withhold sensitive information tied to the ongoing trial.
Last month, several amateur investigators found a method to uncensor some heavily edited files by copying from Adobe Acrobat and pasting them into a word processor. This editorial mistake was verified by The Post.
