The Justice Department acknowledged on Wednesday that it will miss a congressionally imposed deadline to release records tied to Jeffrey Epstein, stating that it has recently uncovered more than a million additional documents that must be reviewed first. The disclosure adds weeks to a process already under scrutiny from lawmakers and victims’ advocates who say the department has failed to deliver on promises of transparency.
The admission came on Christmas Eve, just hours after a bipartisan group of senators urged the Justice Department’s inspector general to open an investigation into the delay. In a letter to Acting Inspector General Don Berthiaume, the lawmakers said victims were entitled to full disclosure and deserved confidence that the review was being conducted properly and independently.
In a statement, the department said prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI had identified “over a million more documents” that could be connected to the Epstein investigation. The announcement marked a sharp turn from earlier assurances that the government had already completed an exhaustive review of its Epstein-related materials.
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That reversal has fueled frustration on Capitol Hill, particularly because Justice Department officials had previously suggested no additional trove of records existed. In July, the department issued an unsigned memo stating it had conducted an exhaustive review and found no further materials suitable for release. That memo did not indicate that large volumes of documents remained unexamined.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had earlier described the scope of the evidence as extensive. In a March interview with Fox News, she said a “truckload of evidence” had been delivered after she instructed the FBI to provide “the full and complete Epstein files.” She said the order came after learning the FBI’s New York office possessed thousands of pages of material.
Despite those assurances, Wednesday’s disclosure revealed that officials only recently became aware of the additional records. The Justice Department did not explain when the files were discovered or why they were not identified sooner.
In a letter sent last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said prosecutors already had access to more than 3.6 million records from investigations into Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, though many were duplicates of previously reviewed materials.
The department said attorneys are now working continuously to review the newly identified files and remove sensitive information, including victims’ names, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law, passed last month, mandates public disclosure of the government’s Epstein records.
“We will release the documents as soon as possible,” the department said. “Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks.”
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The delay has intensified criticism from lawmakers who authored the disclosure law and from Epstein survivors who say the staggered release undermines its intent.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of the bill’s chief sponsors, accused the department of violating the law. “DOJ did break the law by making illegal redactions and by missing the deadline,” he wrote on X. Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another coauthor, said he and Massie would continue pressing the department and noted that additional documents only surfaced after lawmakers threatened contempt proceedings.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also condemned the handling of the records. “A Christmas Eve news dump of ‘a million more files’ only proves what we already know: Trump is engaged in a massive coverup,” he said. “The question Americans deserve answered is simple: WHAT are they hiding — and WHY?”
The White House pushed back on those accusations on Wednesday, defending the Justice Department’s work.
“President Trump has assembled the greatest cabinet in American history, which includes Attorney General Bondi and her team — like Deputy Attorney General Blanche — who are doing a great job implementing the President’s agenda,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
Since Friday, the Justice Department has released several batches of Epstein-related materials, posting them online in phases over the weekend and again on Tuesday. It has not provided a timeline for future releases.
Many of the records made public so far, including photographs, call logs, court filings, and interview transcripts, were already known or heavily redacted. Some lacked sufficient context to explain their significance. Among the newly released materials were grand jury transcripts in which FBI agents described interviews with girls and young women who said they were paid to perform sex acts for Epstein.
Other documents, according to AP’s report, included a January 2020 note from a federal prosecutor stating that Trump had flown on Epstein’s private plane more often than previously reported, as well as emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and an individual who signed messages with the initial “A.” The correspondence includes references suggesting the sender was Britain’s former Prince Andrew. In one message, “A” wrote: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”
The renewed controversy comes as Senate Democrats push for formal oversight. Schumer introduced a resolution earlier this week that would authorize legal action to force compliance with the disclosure law. He described the staggered release as “a blatant cover-up.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Jeff Merkley of Oregon in leading the call for an inspector general review. Other signatories included Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Adam Schiff of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey, Gary Peters of Michigan, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
In their letter, the senators wrote that the administration’s history of resistance to disclosure made independent oversight necessary. “Given the (Trump) Administration’s historic hostility to releasing the files, politicization of the Epstein case more broadly, and failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a neutral assessment of its compliance with the statutory disclosure requirements is essential,” they said.
They added that full transparency is critical not only for accountability but also for identifying individuals who enabled or participated in Epstein’s crimes.
