The Trump administration has said it will take “a few more weeks” to release all of the Epstein files because documents relating to the FBI investigation into the disgraced financier are still being uncovered.
The Department of Justice said “over a million more documents” potentially relating to Jeffrey Epstein had been uncovered by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the department wrote on X.
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“Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks. The department will continue to fully comply with federal law and President Trump’s direction to release the files.”
Having called for the release of the files during the 2024 election campaign, Trump has spent much of the year trying to block publication of the documents.
He has called the files a Democrat “hoax” and dramatically split with the former Maga loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene over her campaign to release all the evidence from the FBI investigation into Epstein, who took his own life in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
Trump eventually bowed to pressure from Congress when it became clear that he would lose a vote on Capitol Hill and agreed to release the files.
Donald Trump, Epstein and an unidentified woman
AFP/HOUSE OVERSIGHT DEMOCRATS
The documents were supposed to be released last Friday and although tens of thousands have been published, they represent only a fraction of the total cache of files.
They feature Andrew-Mountbatten Windsor, Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson and other celebrities in photographs and documents.
Andrew has denied all wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Epstein. Clinton’s spokesman has accused the DoJ of trying to scapegoat the former Democratic president as a way of “shielding” Trump.
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The Trump administration was obliged to release all the documents by December 19 under the terms of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The DoJ has said the sheer quantity of files made it impossible to redact all the documents in time to protect the victims.
In one redacted email published on Tuesday, Trump was identified as a frequent passenger on Epstein’s private plane, nicknamed the “Lolita Express”. Trump, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, had previously denied ever flying on his jet.
Tuesday’s release also included a letter allegedly sent by Epstein shortly before his suicide in 2019 to Larry Nassar, the convicted paedophile doctor of the US gymnastics team, in which the financier described Trump as a fellow admirer of “young, nubile girls”.
Following publication of the letter, the justice department said the FBI had deemed it a fake.
The alleged letter from Epstein
REUTERS
Todd Blanche, the assistant attorney-general, wrote on X: “There has been lots of sensationalism and even outright lies these past few days about the ‘Epstein Files.’
“But let’s separate fact from fiction. Document production is just that. We produce documents, and sometimes this can result in releasing fake or false documents because they simply are in our possession because the law requires this.
“Case in point: the so-called Epstein Nassar letter is clearly FAKE — wrong handwriting, wrong return address, and postmarked three days after Epstein died.”
Ro Khanna, the Democratic congressman who co-drafted the Epstein Files Transparency Act, has threatened Pam Bondi, the attorney-general, with an obscure set of proceedings called “inherent contempt”, claiming she is blocking the immediate release of all of the files.
Khanna said both he and Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman, would “continue to keep the pressure on”.
“After we said we are bringing contempt, the DoJ is now finding millions more documents to release,” Khanna wrote on X. “They need to release the 302 FBI statements and the emails on Epstein’s computer. The Epstein class must go.”