DOJ: 2 million Epstein docs still under review
By: Bart Jansen
USA Today
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has reviewed nearly 13,000 documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but 2 million more documents remain under :various phases of review" according to a new court filing - weeks after a congressional deadline passed to release all the records.
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Attorney General Pam bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche notified a judge that 400 lawyers and 100 document analysts are reviewing the materials to ensure the names of people who accused Epstein of abuse are redacted.
..... "This work has required and will continue to require substantial Department resources," Bondi and Blanche told U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York on January 5. [2026] "the Department remains committed to providing as much protection to the privacy interests of victims and their relatives as is practicable."
..... The court filing underlines the delay in releasing documents related to Epstein under a law passed in November. [2025] Congress directed the Justice Department to release all its documents related to Epstein by December 19 [2025] and to explain in a report what had been withheld by January 3. [2026]
..... Congressional Democrats and people who accused Epstein of abuse have criticized the department's pace of releasing the materials. The latest filing said 12,285 documents totaling 125,575 pages had been reviewed.
..... "We don't even truly know how many more files there are to be released, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said on social media. "The Trump DOJ's lawlessness must stop. I will do everything in my power to ensure all the files come out."
..... But officials have said a significant number of documents must still be reviewed. The department revealed December 24 [2025] that it had identified 1 million documents from FBI files that hadn't been reviewed at that time, although may were duplicates of previously identified records.
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The documents include handwritten notes, pictures and other evidence besides court filings.
..... The records already released have documented Epstein socializing with powerful politicians and business leaders but not revealed additional suspects, such as 10 alleged co-conspirators, in his alleged sex trafficking scheme.
..... U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in the Southern District of New York filed the letter from Bondi and Blanche with Engelmayor, one of three judges who allowed the department to release grand jury transcripts and other evidence from cases related to Epstein.
..... Engelmayor oversaw the case against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to traffic minors for sex.