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2 million Epstein documents still being reviewed, DOJ says

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky; Ro Khanna, D-California; and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who are leading the charge to release files related to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, speaking Nov. 18, 2025 along with survivors as the House prepares to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act on compelling the Justice Department to release the full files from the federal investigation of the late convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Jack Gruber / USA TODAY)
By Bart Jansen USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reviewed nearly 13,000 documents related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and 2 million more documents remain under “various phases of review” − weeks after a congressional deadline passed to release all the records, according to a new court filing.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche notified a judge that 400 lawyers and 100 document analysts were reviewing the documents to ensure the ‌names of accusers 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 Jan. 5. “The Department remains committed to providing as much protection to the privacy interests of victims and their relatives as is practicable.”

The court filing marks another delay in releasing documents related to Epstein under a new ​law. Congressional Democrats and people who accused Epstein of ‌abuse have criticized the department’s pace ⁠of releasing documents.

“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.”

Congress directed the department to release all ‌its documents related to Epstein by Dec. 19 and to explain in a report what had been withheld by Jan. 3.

But officials have said a significant number of documents must still be reviewed. The department revealed Dec. 24 ‌that it had identified ​1 million ‌documents from FBI files that hadn’t been reviewed yet, although many were duplicates of previously identified records. The latest filing said that 12,285 documents totaling 125,575 pages had been reviewed but that “more than 2 million” documents ‌are “under various phases of review.”

The documents include handwritten notes, pictures and other evidence besides court filings. The records released already have documented Epstein socializing with powerful politicians and business ​leaders but not revealed additional suspects, such as 10 suspected 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 Engelmayer, one of three judges who allowed ⁠the department to release grand jury transcripts and other evidence from cases ​related to Epstein.

Engelmayer oversaw the case against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who ⁠was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to traffic minors for sex.