The U.S. Department of Justice has expanded its review of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein to 5.2 million, as it increases the number of attorneys working to comply with a law Congress passed that requires the files’ release, according to a person briefed on a letter sent to U.S. attorneys.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the letter, said the DOJ does not expect to release additional documents until Jan. 20 or 21. The revised scope is part of an expanding effort that has run more than a week past the Dec. 19 deadline set in the law.
The DOJ has more than 400 attorneys assigned to the review, the person briefed on the letter said. The White House did not dispute the figures laid out in the email described by the person, and pointed to remarks by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general.
Blanche said Wednesday that the administration’s response to the Epstein files is an “all-hands-on-deck approach.” He also said lawyers in Washington, the FBI, the Southern District of Florida, and the Southern District of New York are working “around the clock” to review the documents.
Blanche said that “Required redactions to protect victims take time, but they will not stop these materials from being released.” The additional documents and lawyers committed to the effort were first reported by The New York Times, according to the AP report.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced pressure from Congress after the DOJ’s rollout of information lagged behind the Dec. 19 deadline. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who helped lead the effort to pass the document-release law, asked on social media this week whether Bondi should be impeached.
Democrats have also intensified their scrutiny of the handling of the files. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on social media that the latest DOJ figures show Bondi, Blanche, and others had been “lying to the American people about the Epstein files since day one,” and he said the documents released so far were only a fraction of the total.
With a late January release, the DOJ would be more than a month behind the deadline set in law, but some lawmakers said they were still willing to wait. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who led the effort to require the release, told the AP that the expanding review shows the law is working and said lawmakers are willing to give DOJ a few additional weeks.
Khanna said the timing should hinge on additional disclosures, including what he called “the survivors’ statements to the FBI naming the other rich and powerful men who abused them or covered up” and “the prosecution memos about charges that were dropped against Epstein and co-conspirators.” He added that when the information comes out, it would “shock the conscience of the nation.”
Massie, the AP reported, has also said he wants the release of statements victims gave to the FBI, contending those statements could name influential business figures and political donors tied to abuse or cover-up. He and Khanna have both argued that the expanding disclosure suggests more people were involved besides Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
In Congress and in the political debate leading toward midterm elections, lawmakers have continued to treat the Epstein files as a sustained test of trust in the Trump administration’s handling of the case. The AP report noted that Democrats, even as the minority, have forced Congress to take action on an issue that has split parts of the president’s political base.
A tranche of documents released shortly before Christmas showed that Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, when they had a friendship before a falling out, the AP said. The initial release also included photos of former President Bill Clinton with women whose faces were blacked out, and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have sought to force Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appear for a deposition in January.
Still, Democrats have argued that the administration’s handling reflects a broader priority on protecting the powerful rather than the public interest. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight panel, posted on social media: “Unlike the President, we don’t care who’s in the files.” He added: “Anyone that’s involved in the abuse of women and girls should be held accountable.”