More than 2 million files related to Jeffrey Epstein have yet to be released, according to the Department of Justice.
In court filings submitted Monday night, the DOJ said it has released about 12,285 documents so far, consisting of roughly 125,575 pages. As noted by CBS News, the DOJ’s admission that more than 2 million documents remain in “various phases of review” means the department has reviewed less than 1 percent of the total Epstein files.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required all of the department’s investigative files on the late pedophile to be released by Dec. 19, 2025.
The DOJ and Attorney General Pam Bondi have already faced mounting criticism for the slow and partial release of the files, with hundreds of documents made public last month heavily redacted. Additional scrutiny followed revelations that the DOJ had temporarily removed files that featured Donald Trump—once a friend of Epstein.
In a Monday court filing, Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer that roughly 400 DOJ lawyers are devoting “all or a substantial portion of their workday” to reviewing, redacting, and releasing the Epstein files.
“Many of the attorneys dedicated to this review from the Department have experience in victim-privacy related matters, which is necessary given the nature of the materials and the types of documents that require careful redaction,” Clayton wrote.
The DOJ has said redactions are necessary to protect victims and prevent the release of child sexual abuse material.
However, the department has also acknowledged that information that “victims believe should have been redacted” was included in the most recent document release, including their names.
“The Department has applied additional redactions at the request of victims, counsel, and others, and continues to engage with victim counsel about these matters in an effort to best comply with the Act and also afford maximum privacy protections to victims,” Clayton added.
The DOJ announced on Christmas Eve that it had discovered more than 1 million new FBI documents for review. The Monday filing said a “meaningful portion” of these documents could be copies or duplicates of files prosecutors have already collected, but “nonetheless still need to undergo a process of processing and deduplication.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday accused Trump and the DOJ of “trying to hide” what is contained in the Epstein files after the department failed to submit a report to Congress listing all government officials and other politically sensitive figures named in the documents.
“It’s been 17 DAYS since the Trump DOJ first broke the law and failed to release all the Epstein files. It’s been 14 DAYS since Trump’s DOJ released anything at all—with the DOJ doing everything in its power to delay and obfuscate,” Schumer posted on X.
“We don’t even truly know how many more files there are to be released. The Trump DOJ’s lawlessness must stop.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Department of Justice for comment.
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