DOJ allowing Congress to view unredacted Epstein files
The Justice Department told Congress that lawmakers will be able to view unredacted Epstein files starting next week, gaining access to more than 3 million pages of documents. Members will read the materials in DOJ reading rooms under strict rules—no phones or electronics, at least 24 hours’ notice, and hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday—with congressional staff barred from entering. Many of the documents released publicly in recent months were heavily redacted to protect victims and privilege-related interests; about 200,000 pages remain redacted. The move follows bipartisan pressure from lawmakers like Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna to see the files in full, with Khanna arguing that transparency should prevail. DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the redactions but acknowledged that public appetite for information may exceed what the review can satisfy. (A linked DOJ note also mentions the release of millions more Epstein documents and thousands of videos.)
DOJ allowing Congress to view unredacted Epstein files
The Justice Department informed Congress on Friday that lawmakers will be given access to unredacted versions of the Epstein files, starting next week.
Beginning Monday, congressional members will be able to view unredacted versions of over 3 million pages of publicly released documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote in a letter to lawmakers. Many of the files released in spades to the public in recent months have been heavily redacted, in what the Trump administration says is an effort to protect around 1,000 victims who have accused Epstein and his associates of sexual harassment or abuse.
“We are confident that this review will further demonstrate the Department’s good faith work to appropriately process an enormous volume of documents in a very short time,” Davis wrote this week, describing the development as in line with the DOJ’s “commitment to maximum transparency.”
Lawmakers must abide by a series of stipulations in order to view the files in their entirety. Members are not allowed to take any phones or electronics into the reading rooms at the DOJ, where they will use government computers to access the files. Senators and representatives must give the department at least 24 hours’ notice of their preferred reviewing time.
Lawmakers may view the files from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to Davis. Congressional staff are not allowed into the reading rooms.
The development comes after the Justice Department released the files last week. At the time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ has still “withheld or redacted files covered by various privileges, including deliberative process privilege, the work-product doctrine, and attorney-client privilege. In total, approximately 200,000 pages have been redacted or withheld based on various privileges.”
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), who have led a bipartisan effort seeking the release of the files, swiftly urged Blanche to grant Congress members the ability to view the files in full. Khanna said Thursday that he and Massie had requested a meeting with Blanche for an explanation regarding why certain information had been redacted.
“Concealing the reputations of these powerful men is a blatant violation of the Epstein Transparency Act we passed,” he said.
“We have seen a blanket approach to redactions in some areas, while in other cases, victim names were not redacted at all,” Khanna and Massie added in a joint letter to the DOJ.
Khanna celebrated the news on Friday that members will be able to view the files in full, saying “When Congress pushes back, Congress can prevail.”
DOJ TO RELEASE 3.5 MILLION NEW EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS AND 2,000 VIDEOS
Blanche warned last week that there is a “hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents.”
“There’s nothing I can do about that,” he said. “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 choosing not to prosecute. That is not the case. 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.”
Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.
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