Jeffrey Epstein files released as Justice Department drops documents

The long-awaited release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's network is here.

The Justice Department was forced to publish hundreds of thousands of documents on Friday on the full trove of documents related to the convicted child sex offender after Congress promised this year to deliver it to the American public.

And while the documents are officially published on the DOJ's website, users complained online that the webpage continuously crashed as they attempted to access the release.

The drop comes on the final day allowed by law to release the files. 

But top brass at President Donald Trump's DOJ admit that they were not able to fully meet the deadline, and that there are still hundreds of thousands of documents yet to be released.

'I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks. So today, several hundred thousand – and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday morning.

The case around the notorious and deceased pedophile has been entangled in years of conspiracy theories, finger-pointing and ceaseless demands for answers from Democrats, Republicans and victims of the predator's crimes. 

Sleuths immediately got to work paging through the thousands of files, despite a line to access the webpage and 10-minute window to access the documents before getting booted from the DOJ website. 

The hundreds of thousands of pages are expected to reveal brand new information, and include images, texts, emails and other documents.

But officials cautioned that a significant portion of what is unveiled may be redacted in order to protect victims of Epstein's crimes. 

'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,' Blanche told Fox News just hours ahead of the deadline.

Congress voted last month for all of the files to be reviewed and published to the public. Trump, who initially opposed the release, signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19 and gave his DOJ a 30-day timeline for the release.

The mandate was carried out to the exact specified deadline date of December 19, 2025.

Politicians, legal experts and members of the public are now scrambling to comb through the documents and find new information tucked in the thousands of pages.

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But many warned ahead of the release that there wouldn't be any bombshell revelations and outrage ensued over the limited release. 

The legislation forcing the Epstein files publication allows the DOJ to redact or withhold details 'which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.'

But prosecution of Bondi or any other DOJ official would likely still be possible in the extraordinary event of intentional obstruction or destruction of evidence.

'There's no penalty for selective redactions,' historian and American University professor Allan Lichtman told BBC.

\An initial review indicates the documents released today originate from three separate investigations into Jeffrey Epstein's crimes against young women.

Many of the files appear to stem from a 2005 police investigation in Palm Beach, Florida, followed by a federal probe that culminated in Epstein's controversial 2008 plea deal.

Others relate to a later investigation launched by Manhattan prosecutors in 2019 - a case that was never finished after Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial.

The Epstein files is one of the most controversial sets of documents in US history, and arguments over its release led to a series of political stunts.

This included Attorney General Pam Bondi convening conservative influencers at the White House in February and handing them binders labeled 'Epstein Files: Phase 1' – though it contained no new information and led to a slew of criticism.

And it almost led Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, a right-wing conspiracy theorist, to quit the administration following reports of tensions with Bondi over the handling of the saga.

Differing opinions regarding release of the files also caused the high profile political breakup between Trump and one-time MAGA darling Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene last month.

On July 7, 2025, the FBI and DOJ released a statement ending the Epstein files review.

Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel concluded that no further prosecution was warranted – even though many Americans wanted to see others prosecuted for involvement in Epstein's crimes.

The review also shut down any conspiracies that Epstein was killed in prison as it confirmed his August 2019 death was self-inflicted.

Controversy ensued after that conclusion was released as internet sleuths found faults in surveillance video from outside the cell – including a missing minute of footage.

Trump repeatedly denounced the files as a 'Democrat hoax' he claimed is a left-wing effort to link him to the disgraced financier. He was adamant about having no contact with Epstein after he was kicked out of Mar-a-Lago in 2007 for allegedly being 'a creep.'

He told reporters on Air Force One that he had a 'very bad relationship for many years' with Epstein and said it wasn't necessary for all of the documents to be released after his DOJ reached its conclusion upon review of the files.

But his tune changed once Democrats started to release a trickle of evidence from the investigation linking Trump and other high profile businessmen and politicans to Epstein.

Trump said he would have his DOJ release all information from the files so that all Democrats with connections to the offender could be revealed.

But House Democrats beat him to the punch.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed the Justice Department and Epstein estate for its files earlier this year – appearing to do so under pressure from Democratic members of the panel.

In response, the Kentucky Republican subpoenaed former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, as well as multiple former attorneys general, for depositions. Former Trump AG William Barr is the only one who has so far provided testimony.

Once Democrats on the Oversight panel got a copy of the documents in August, they started reviewing and releasing a trickle of images, videos and correspondence it found linking prominent individuals to Epstein.

The latest drop came just one day before the full release and included images of passports, text messages with demographics of women and parts of women's bodies with excerpos from the novel Lolita written on them. 

Another drop this week showed images of Epstein with Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, actor and director Woody Allen, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates and others.

And a release on December 3 included harrowing images of Epstein's deserted private island Little St. James. Those images did not include any individuals but showed a creepy dentist office with masks of men's faces lining the walls, a dried-up steam room and a library with redacted words written on a chalk board.

The images were part of 95,000 the committee said it reviewed.

Comer set a December 17 and 18 deadline for the Clintons to testify before Congress or schedule a time to appear in January. Neither have appeared despite the threats.