The Justice Department asked career prosecutors in Florida to volunteer over the holiday week to help redact Jeffrey Epstein files, according to an internal email describing the appeal as an "emergency" from the Deputy Attorney General's office. The department missed a congressional deadline to release the records and has continued publishing documents, including roughly 30,000 additional records overnight. Sources say redaction guidance has been confusing or overly cautious, and volunteers were offered compensatory time off for their work.
Exclusive: DOJ Scrambles to Recruit Holiday Volunteers to Redact Epstein Files, Internal Email Shows
Documents released from Jeffrey Epstein, including a sheaf of entirely redacted pages, are seen in this handout released by the US Justice Department and printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters in Washington, DC, on December 19. - Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Justice Department's senior leadership quietly asked career prosecutors in Florida to volunteer "over the next several days" to help redact files related to Jeffrey Epstein, according to an internal email obtained by reporters. The request — sent two days before Christmas — is part of the administration's intensified effort to publish hundreds of thousands of photos, memos and other records tied to the late convicted sex offender.
Emergency Request From Deputy Attorney General
A supervising prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida emailed the entire district on Tuesday saying there was an "emergency request from the [Deputy Attorney General's] office the SDFL must assist with." The message asked for Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) to perform remote document review and make redactions to the files.
Timing, Staffing And Public Backlash
The email raises the prospect of additional disclosures over the Christmas and New Year holidays and highlights the political and public scrutiny the Justice Department has faced after missing a statutory deadline to release records. The department acknowledged it had not finished redacting many files by the deadline and has continued to publish documents this week.
Officials at Main Justice also mobilized hundreds of attorneys in recent weeks — including national security specialists — to process the backlog, taking up work previously handled in pieces by the FBI and other agencies. The new appeal seeks to augment that effort with volunteer AUSAs in Florida, offering compensatory time off later for those who assist.
Confusing Guidance And A Large Overnight Release
Sources familiar with the department's redaction guidance described it as confusing or overly cautious in some respects, which can slow reviewers and increase the workload. The department released roughly 30,000 additional records overnight, many of which contained new documents, including a prosecutor's email referring to President Trump’s name on flight logs tied to the investigation of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and paperwork documenting subpoenas and interviews from 2019–2021 — the period of Maxwell’s prosecution and conviction.
Legal And Political Context
President Trump has not been accused by law enforcement of criminal conduct related to Epstein's crimes, and he has denied any wrongdoing. The Southern District of Florida’s leadership said the redactions are necessary to protect victims' identities and other sensitive information before broader release.
"We have an obligation to the public to release these documents and before we can do so, certain redactions must be made to protect the identity of the victims, among other things," the district leadership wrote in the volunteer request.
Implications
The holiday-week request underscores tensions inside the Justice Department as it balances legal obligations, public demands for transparency, staffing pressures and political fallout. For career attorneys already stretched by a year of turnover and high-profile departures, an emergency plea for volunteers during widely observed holidays may further strain morale and public trust.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the email.
