Beyond the Dome: New Release of Epstein Files

By Katie Dusza, News Editor

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has released more than three million pages of files tied to the criminal investigation and death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This action is in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress last November, legally requiring the DOJ to release all of the files. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in total that there were six million pages of Epstein documents in the DOJ's files, but nearly three million pages were being withheld for various reasons, including the presence of child sexual abuse material and the obligation to protect victims' rights.

The files were collected from primary sources, including Florida and New York cases against Epstein, the New York case against Maxwell, the New York cases investigating Epstein’s death, the Florida case investigating a former butler of Epstein, multiple FBI investigations and the Office of Inspector General investigation into Epstein’s death, according to the DOJ.

Supporters of the law have complained that the DOJ failed to meet their deadline of mid-December to release all the files. They have also raised concerns about the extensive redactions made to documents and photos that have been released.

According to NPR’s review of the files, they include unredacted names and photographs of Epstein victims, communications with powerful figures like Elon Musk and former White House counsel in the Obama administration Kathryn Ruemmler and even more mentions of President Trump.

There has been backlash over a lack of privacy for some of the victims mentioned in the files, despite the assurance of officials that it would not be an issue. “We are getting constant calls for victims because their names, despite them never coming forward, being completely unknown to the public, have all just been released for public consumption,” said Brad Edwards, an attorney for some of the victims, in an interview with ABC News. Edwards continued, “It's literally 1000s of mistakes.”

In response to this, the DOJ released a statement saying, "The Department coordinated closely with victims and their lawyers to ensure that the production of documents includes necessary redactions. We want to immediately correct any redaction errors that our team may have made.” 

At the White House on Tuesday, President Trump said he thought it was "really time for the country to get on to something else.” On his consistent denial of wrongdoing, Trump said, "Nothing came out about me." However, Trump's name appeared more than 6,000 times in the documents.

Trump has since asked Americans to move attention away from the files. According to Attorney General Blanche, the government's review of the Epstein files is over and there are no grounds for new prosecutions. Members of Congress, as well as Epstein’s victims, are inquiring about documents that they say exist; however were not released.