US Justice Department has released less than 1% of Epstein files, court filing reveals

Only about 12,285 documents, totaling roughly 125,575 pages, have been published to date from the trove of material related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.Photo | AP
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has acknowledged that it has released less than 1 % of the Epstein files, according to a court filing.

Only about 12,285 documents, totaling roughly 125,575 pages, have been published to date from the trove of material related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

The department missed a December 19, 2025, deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a federal law enacted in November 2025 that required the DOJ to make all unclassified records and documents relating to Epstein publicly available within 30 days.

In a letter to a federal judge, DOJ officials reported that more than 2 million potentially relevant documents remain “in various phases of review” and have yet to be released because they must still be processed and reviewed for sensitive victim information and other permissible redactions.

The DOJ said it identified on December 24 more than one million files not included in its initial review.

Some of those documents appeared to be duplicates but would still need "processing and deduplication," the letter noted.

"Substantial work remains to be done," said the letter, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and others involved.

More than 400 DOJ attorneys will spend "the next few weeks" reviewing the documents, the officials said.

At least 100 FBI employees trained in handling "sensitive victim information" will assist the effort.

US President Donald Trump is facing strong pushback from Democrats for failing to release all files related to Epstein in a timely manner.

The Trump administration has defended its handling of the documents, noting the need to protect sensitive information about victims.

In Monday's letter, the DOJ officials said they must "manually" review the documents for "victim identifying information."

Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
Voluminous new Epstein files release includes multiple Trump mentions, but little revelatory news

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