Survivors, lawmakers and watchdog groups have accused Donald Trump’s Justice Department of withholding records it was legally required to release after revealing millions of files from an investigation into a disgraced financier and sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein.
Department of Justice on Friday 3m released Pages of documents from its investigation into the millionaire financier’s sexual assaults on young women and his interactions with the rich and powerful, including Trump and former President Bill Clinton. The release is an attempt to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and according to the US Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, all subject to “extensive redactions”.
In a letter to Congress, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche suggested Friday’s document “signals the end” of the government’s efforts to comply with the law. Democrats And the authors of the bill.
Robert Garcia, the ranking Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee, which played a central role in investigating the government’s handling of the release of the documents, accused Bondy of violating the Act.
“Donald Trump and his Department of Justice have now made it clear that they want to withhold about 50% of Epstein’s files, while claiming to be in full compliance with the law. This is outrageous and unbelievable,” Garcia said in a statement. “The Oversight Committee subpoena directs Pam Bondi to release all files to the committee, but survivors will be spared.”
He said: “We are demanding the names of Epstein’s co-conspirators and the men and pedophiles who abused women and girls. We will begin a thorough review of this latest limited production, but let’s be clear: our work and investigation is just beginning.”
In a joint statement, a group of 20 Epstein survivors revealed the victim’s renewed vulnerability as the document once again shields powerful figures.
“This latest release Jeffrey Epstein The files are being sold as transparency, but in reality they are exposing survivors,” they said in the statement.
They continued: “Once again, the names and identifying information of survivors are being exposed, while the people who abused us are being hidden and protected. That’s outrageous.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said: “All Epstein files are required by law to be released by December 19, 2025. For 43 days, the Justice Department delayed the release, cherrypicking documents — many heavily redacted — all to obscure the truth and delay justice for survivors.
“Until yesterday, the Justice Department admitted to releasing less than 1% of all documents. Now it says it’s done. Americans are very skeptical.
“The American people want the full truth on the Epstein files, not inflated statistics. AG Bondi thinks she can deceive the American people. But we will see right through her lies. Stop the cover-up and follow the law.”
The release comes more than a month after a Dec. 19 deadline set by the Republican-controlled Congress. The federal law mandating the release comes after months of mounting political pressure for the Justice Department to release documents related to the Epstein investigation.
A review of the files – the largest batch of Epstein documents released to date – is still ongoing, with public disclosures revealing previously unknown financial and social ties between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK. A back and forth email chain Between Epstein and Elon Musk in 2012.
On Friday, bipartisan sponsors of the Transparency Act sent a formal letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, demanding a meeting to review the un-redacted files, claiming Congress could not fulfill its oversight duties — or save lives — under the Justice Department’s current policy.
“Congress cannot properly assess the department’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases without access to the full record,” Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, and Rep. Thomas Massey, Republican of Kentucky, previously wrote to Blanche, Trump’s personal attorney.
In a separate statement on Friday, Khanna said the partial release raises fundamental questions about the DoJ’s compliance.
“The DoJ has identified more than 6 million responsive pages, but is releasing only 3.5 million after review and corrections,” he said. “It raises questions about why the rest are being discontinued.”
FBI victim interview statements, 2007 Florida investigation Khanna said he was watching closely for the release of certain materials he had long sought, including Ndi’s draft indictment and prosecution memo and extensive emails and files from Epstein’s computers.
“Failure to release these files will only protect the powerful people involved and undermine public trust in our institutions,” he said.
The Justice Department argued that privacy protections, legal sensitivities and the sheer volume of the material justified its approach. But critics say the law is designed to prevent selective disclosure — and the latest release has heightened concerns that survivors are paying a price for secrecy around Epstein’s powerful associates.
Norm Eisen, executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund and an Obama-era ethics lawyer, attacked the Justice Department for its “failure to fully release all eligible files related to the Epstein investigation.”
“They’re trying to sell this as full consent and a ‘complete’ Epstein record,” Eisen said. “But everything about their rollout points to the same old playbook: massive redactions, selective disclosure and a public-facing archive that doesn’t faithfully reflect what the government actually has.”
