The Department of Justice has withheld from the public nearly 48,000 files stemming from investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, after publishing more than 2 million pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The initial legally mandated releases of documents comprised more than 3 million pages, though that figure is now roughly 2.7 million, according to an analysis of the files by CBS News and The Wall Street Journal.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department told the outlets that “47,635 files were offline for further review and should be ready for re-production by the end of the week.”
Those offline files include materials connected to unverified allegations against President Donald Trump, The Independent previously reported.
“Our team is working around the clock to address victim concerns, redact personally identifiable information and any images of a sexual nature,” according to Justice Department spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre. “All responsive documents will be repopulated online once proper redactions are made.”
The Justice Department was compelled by federal law to release millions of files, including emails, court documents, photos and videos, many of which include images or references to high-profile figures, including the president.
DOJ told The Independent last week that it is “currently reviewing” documents that detail unverified allegations against the president. Those documents include summaries of FBI interviews stemming from unverified claims made by a woman who came forward after Epstein’s arrest in 2019, who alleged, according to the files released by the DOJ, that she was sexually assaulted by both Epstein and Trump decades earlier, when she was a minor.
In a statement in January, the Justice Department noted that “some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.
Those claims are “unfounded and false,” the statement said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has previously said the Justice Department withheld duplicate files, files that they could compromise active investigations, child sexual abuse material, and files that would reveal survivors’ personal information.
Following reports of the missing interview files, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democratic members of Congress are engaged in an “all-out oversight effort.”
“We’re going to pull on every thread,” he said during a press briefing February 26. “We’re going to chase every lead. We’ll talk with whistleblowers.”
The president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and insists he cut ties with Epstein years before the wealthy pedophile — who killed himself in a New York City jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges — was under investigation.
Trump has characterized efforts to release the full files as a “hoax” perpetuated by Democratic officials to distract from his agenda, and Trump has sued The Wall Street Journal over the publication of an alleged letter to Epstein, a story he labelled “false, malicious and defamatory.”
Under legislation signed into law by Trump in November, the Justice Department was ordered to release all files connected to investigations connected to Epstein by December 19.
Trump’s name appears thousands of times in the files. The president socialized with Epstein throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and Epstein once described himself as the president’s “closest friend.”
Trump has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and one’s appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise.
