The Justice Department published an initial batch of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act Friday, posting searchable documents and multimedia related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The DOJ previously said it might miss the statute's midnight deadline but has begun a phased release of documents, with more expected in the coming weeks. Files are available at justice.gov/epstein, though many PDFs are heavily redacted and the release is described by lawmakers as partial.
DOJ Publishes Epstein Files Online Under New Transparency Law
The Department of Justice published documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act to its website Friday afternoon, fulfilling a key provision of the statute that was signed into law last month.
The law required the DOJ to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices" related to Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and associated investigations.
What Happened
Although Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged earlier that the department would miss the statute's midnight Friday deadline, he told Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones the DOJ planned to "release several hundred thousand documents today" and to "release more documents over the next couple of weeks." The initial batch of documents has now been posted.
DOJ website for Epstein files
How To Access The Files
The documents are available at https://www.justice.gov/epstein. Visitors may experience delays because of heavy traffic; Mediaite reported seeing a site notice that the portal was "currently experiencing extremely high volume of search requests at this time" soon after it went live.
Contents And Limitations
The portal provides a search tool and direct links to documents organized by category: Court Records, DOJ Disclosures, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Records, and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Disclosures. Files are posted as PDFs—many with substantial redactions—and the site also hosts photos, audio, and video files.
"Looks like the DOJ just dropped some of the Epstein files. Our entire team has begun a major review. We will keep the American people updated — but it's clear that this is not a full release," Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, posted on social media.
This is a developing story and updates may follow as the DOJ posts more material and as reviewers assess the newly available records.
