The United States Justice Department has declared its investigation into the Epstein files complete, but Democrats and at least one Republican are demanding the release of millions more pages they insist are being deliberately withheld. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday that the department had reviewed over six million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, and tens of thousands of images, fulfilling the statutory requirement. "This review is over," he told ABC's This Week.
The declaration drew immediate criticism from senior Democrats, including Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, who accused the administration of a "full-blown cover-up." Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Raskin noted that only 3 million of more than 6 million potentially responsive documents had been released, with over 10,000 redactions. "What about the other 3 million files?" he asked, adding that federal law now compels their release, yet the public is only receiving "the dribs and drabs of information coming out, the stuff that they want us to see."
Raskin has written to Blanche demanding that he and fellow committee members be allowed to view unredacted versions of the released materials. He was joined by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and California Democrat Ro Khanna, who co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Khanna told CNN that the justice department had "released at best half the documents," describing the matter as "one of the largest scandals in our country's history." Massie has also called for the release of all remaining files.
The documents released on Friday contained new details of Epstein's abuse, including alleged trafficking of victims to other men, and cited prominent figures including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew. All were former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, and all have denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of his offences.
However, the release has also raised concerns about victim privacy. On Monday, the justice department said it had removed several thousand documents that may have inadvertently included identifying information about victims. The move followed court papers filed by lawyers representing more than 200 of Epstein's victims, who demanded the department take down a website hosting the released documents. In a letter to judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer, the lawyers said victims had expected previous redaction errors not to be repeated, but that "that expectation was shattered" by the latest release.
Despite Blanche's assertion that there is "nothing to hide," Democrats remain defiant. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told ABC that the fight "will not be over until there is full and complete transparency as demanded by the survivors." Raskin echoed that sentiment, arguing that the administration's actions amount to a calculated withholding of evidence central to a scandal that continues to reverberate through American politics and society.
