Justice Department officials announced Wednesday that they will not complete the release of the federal government’s files on deceased financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein for “a few more weeks.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last month, set a Friday deadline for the government to release all of its documents about Epstein.
Justice Department officials posted hundreds of thousands of documents, photos, and videos online on Friday but were still redacting the names and likenesses of Epstein’s victims from the not-yet-released documents, in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, earlier this week. The Justice Department’s failure to fully meet the deadline drew the ire of many in recent days.
However, on Wednesday, the Justice Department announced that it will be several weeks before the release is completed, following news from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI that officials had “uncovered over a million more documents potentially related” to the case.
“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 statement reads. “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.”
Trump himself was mentioned in the Epstein files multiple times, including in several photographs where the president socialized with Epstein’s victims.
Earlier this week, Trump declined to commit to releasing the Epstein files in full when asked to do so by reporters covering his Christmas vacation in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Instead, he told reporters that the release could potentially ruin the careers and lives of “people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago.”
“People are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein, but they’re in a picture,” he said Monday. “In a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined the reputation of somebody.”