US Justice Department releases new cache of over 3 million Jeffrey Epstein files

The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.

They were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” Blanche said at a news conference announcing the disclosure.

‘Five million pages to review’

The department had said at year’s end that it still had more than five million pages to review and needed to re-assign hundreds of lawyers to do so, drawing criticism ​from some members of Congress that the ‌administration’s slow pace had violated the law.

Blanche defended the delay in releasing the files and insisted justice for victims wasn’t being denied.

“That because we didn’t review the 6 million-plus pages within 30 days. Somehow, the attorney general doesn’t care about victims or is further doing damage to victims because of that?” Blanche said. “Exactly the opposite is true when it comes to the attorney general.”

President Donald Trump, who was friends with Epstein in ​the 1990s and early 2000s before they had a falling out years before Epstein’s first conviction, had spent months resisting any release until both Democrats and Republicans in Congress advanced the law over his objections.

The law permitted some redactions, including to protect victims and preserve ‌ongoing investigations. But the files released thus far have been heavily redacted, in some cases entirely so, frustrating ‌lawmakers.

Trump has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and ‌he has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

‘Not protecting Trump’

On Friday, Blanche said that no one including Trump, were protected in the release of the Epstein files.

“I can assure that we complied with the statute, we complied with the act,” Blanche told reporters. “We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect or not protect anybody.”

‘There is no Epstein client list’

He also denied allegations that the DOJ covered up the so-called Epstein client list

“There’s this built-in assumption that somehow there’s this hidden tranche of information of men that we know about, that we’re covering up, or that we’re not we’re choosing not to prosecute. That is not the case,” Blanche said.

“I don’t know whether there are men out there that abuse these women. If we learn about information and evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will. But I don’t think that the public or you all are going to uncover men within the Epstein files that abuse women,” he added.

‘No White House oversight’

Blanche also said that the White House “had nothing to do” with the Justice Department’s review of the newly released files.

“They had no oversight over this review,” Blanche said. “They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact.”