The Department of Justice (DOJ) will not meet the deadline to release all of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, a Congressional law signed by President Donald Trump last month, gave the Justice Department 30 days to “make publicly available…all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and other individuals—including government officials—named or referenced in the files.
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But Blanche signaled on Friday that not all the files would be released by the deadline, blaming the large number of redactions needed to protect victims. “What we’re doing is we are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story to the extent it needs to be protected is completely protected,” he told Fox News.
Read more: How the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein Beat Washington at Its Own Game
“Today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” he added.
The DOJ was also instructed to release documents related to internal department communications about whether to charge, not charge, or investigate Epstein. Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, it was given 15 days to explain why it had withheld certain documents.
Epstein faced a federal investigation in the early 2000s after the family of a 14-year-old girl came forward alleging sexual abuse. A draft indictment against Epstein outlined 60 criminal counts, though he ultimately entered a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which resulted in a light sentence of less than 13 months.
Epstein later faced charges for the sex trafficking of minors, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York. He died by an apparent suicide while awaiting trial that August.
The case has earned national attention due to Epstein’s public links to powerful figures in politics, finance, Hollywood and academia.
Public pressure over the files exploded this year after Trump and several of his top officials, who had previously promised full transparency regarding the files, began actively discouraging their release and downplaying their importance.
Many of the President’s own MAGA fanbase, and far-right lawmakers and voices, remain outraged by the lack of information released by the Administration since Trump came into office.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have been releasing select files from Epstein’s estate, including photographs of a number of prominent figures, including Trump, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, former President Bill Clinton, and others. The committee previously released letters from Epstein’s birthday book, which includes a note written by the president.
Trump had a public friendship with Epstein, but he has vehemently denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Lawmakers have criticized the DOJ for failing to release all of the files on time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said that failure to release all the files is “breaking the law.”
“Senate Democrats are working closely with attorneys for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and with outside legal experts to assess what documents are being withheld and what is being covered up by Pam Bondi. We will not stop until the whole truth comes out,” Schumer added.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, similarly criticized the DOJ on Thursday, saying that “there will be penalties” if Bondi does not release all the Epstein files.
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