US Justice Department begins release of some Epstein files – DW – 12/20/2025

The documents released on Friday are roughly 4,000 images in five data sets. That is a thin slice of the hundreds of thousands of files the Department of Justice has.

In a letter to Congress obtained by Associated Press, the Department of Justice acknowledged that the complete set of files was not released and that the government expects more disclosures by the end of the year.

Of the documents that were released, many were heavily redacted without explanation. For instance, over 100 images were entirely blacked out, without explanations. Dozens of other images showed staircases.

It is unclear how substantive the data sets are given the lack of context from the Department of Justice.

Several other images, including one that mentions Trump and his family’s name in an Epstein contact book, were already in the public arena. 

In short: Not much.

Donald Trump’s name appeared on flight manifests listing passengers on Epstein’s private plane that ‌were included in a first batch of material the Department of Justice released back in February, but the current US president is conspicuous by his relative absence from Friday’s release.

According to the Associated Press, the small number of photos that do show him appear to have been in the public domain for decades.

Another initial analysis of the hundreds of thousands of pages by the Reuters news agency found only a photo of Epstein holding a check with Trump’s name on it, and another where Trump’s 1997 book, “Trump: The Art of the Comeback,” can be seen on a bookshelf behind Epstein.

On Friday, Trump boarded a flight to a rally in North Carolina but, in passing remarks to reporters, didn’t make any reference to the new release, nor did he take any questions.

Among those flying with Trump was Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the second-ranking official at the DOJ who has overseen the review of the Epstein files.

Trump has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein but is under pressure to fully release all the Epstein Files from his own Christian nationalist supporters, many of whom believe in conspiracy theories — often fueled by Trump himself — that the US political elite are in cahoots with pedophiles.

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s youngest alleged victims has expressed frustration at what she sees as an incomplete release of files and called for greater transparency from the Department of Justice.

“Just put out the files,” said Marina Lacerda, who was named as “Minor Victim 1” in Epstein’s federal indictment and says she was sexually assaulted by the former financier when she was just 14 years old. “And stop redacting names that don’t need to be redacted.”

Lacerda said she was skeptical of the administration’s claims of transparency. “In the beginning, they were calling us a hoax, right?” she said. “Now they’re like: ‘We believe you, we’re gonna release the files,’ yet [they] still haven’t released the files and it’s not even fully transparent.”

Ro Khanna, a Democratic Party congressman, said the Justice Department’s release of files tied to Jeffrey Epstein “does not comply” with federal law. 

“The Justice Department’s document dump this afternoon does not comply with Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act,” he said in a video statement.

“They released one document from a New York grand jury of a 119 pages totally blacked out! This despite a New York judge ordering them to release that document, and our law requires them to explain redactions. There’s not a single explanation for why that entire document was redacted,” he added.

“We have not seen the draft indictment that implicates other rich and powerful men who were on Epstein’s rape island, who either watched the abuse of young girls or participated in the abuse of young girls and sex trafficking,” Khanna said.

“It is an incomplete release, with too many redactions,” he said, adding that he and Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who co-wrote the law demanding the release of the Epstein files, were “exploring all options” to enforce the law’s stipulations and demand the full release of the files. 

Images released Friday by the US Department of Justice include photos of former US President Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, as well as former Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew.

The photos often show the internationally recognized politicians and celebrities alongside women whose faces have been redacted.

A handful of photos also show current US President Donald Trump. The photos appear to have been in the public domain for decades, including two in which Trump and Epstein are posing with now-first lady Melania Trump.

Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said the Epstein investigation “isn’t about Bill Clinton.”

“There are two types of people here,” Urena said. “The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships after that. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that.”

Clinton has never been accused of misconduct by Epstein’s known victims.

The documents released on Friday do not provide any context regarding where or when the photos were taken and, on their own, are not proof or implication of any illegal activities by those pictured.

Senate minority leader Chuck criticized the Justice Department for failing to release all the material in the Epstein files. 

“Simply releasing a mountain of blacked out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law,” he said in a statement. “For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out. We need answers as to why.”

The law passed by a large majority of Congress and signed by President Trump calls for the complete release of the Epstein files in a searchable format.

“Senate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable. We will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out,” Schumer’s statement added.

The White House said the release of the Epstein files showed that President Donald Trump’s administration was the “most transparent in history,” while criticizing Democrats for ties to the late financier.

“By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, multiple Democratic Party lawmakers denounced the partial release of the files, accusing the Department of Justice of breaking the law by not releasing all documents.

The Department of Justice had discovered over 1,200 victims and their families during an exhaustive review, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a letter to Congress published by the Fox broadcaster.

According to the letter, the department redacted the names of the victims, as well as information that could lead to their identification.

Prosecutors are able to withhold information related to active investigations.

In a privacy notice accompanying released files, the Department of Justice called for members of the public to notify authorities if they identify any information that should not have been posted.

The Department of Justice has released four data sets containing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

You can view the files here, here, here and here on the Department of Justice’s  website for what it calls the “Epstein Library.”

The US Justice Department has begun releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The documents are expected to reveal further details on Epstein’s connections to powerful people, including politicians and business figures.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier in the day that several hundred thousand documents would be released on Friday.

Documents related to Jeffrey Epstein are to be released by the Justice Department by midnight local time (0500 UTC).

The deadline is stipulated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on November 19 after a near-unanimous vote in Congress.

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that not all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein will be released on Friday despite a legal deadline calling for just that.

Blanche told the conservative Fox News broadcaster that several hundred thousand documents would be released on Friday.

“Over the next couple of weeks … I expect several hundred thousand more” will be released, Blanche said.

Blanche’s comments were met with fierce criticism by multiple lawmakers.

“The Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law,” the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement.

Democratic lawmakers Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia released a joint statement accusing Trump and the Department of Justice of “violating federal law,” adding that they were “examining all legal options” to deal with the alleged violation.

Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced late last month she would resign in January over disagreements with the Trump administration, also urged the release of all of the files.

“My goodness, what is in the Epstein files? Release all the files. It’s literally the law,” she said in a post on X.

Delays in Epstein file release weigh on MAGA movement

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A deadline is approaching for the US Justice Department to release documents related to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The deadline was established by The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump in late November after the bill passed Congress in a near-unanimous vote.

Democratic lawmakers published 68 images from the Epstein estate ahead of the deadline.

Releasing documents related to Epstein was one of Trump’s campaign promises during the November 2024 election, which he later attempted to downplay early in his term, a move that sparked an outcry from his own base.

Stay with us for DW’s coverage of the Epstein-related documents and their release.