Jeffrey Epstein documents released by Justice Department

The Department of Justice acknowledged to Congress in a letter on Friday that it missed the deadline to release all unclassified material related to Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking cases.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche attributed the lapse to the DOJ's various components producing batches of documents this week. The documents must all go through a review process being handled by the National Security Division.

"Because of the volume of the material and the requirement that every page of every document be reviewed for potential redactions under the Act, final stages of review of some material continue," Blanche said.

He added: "I anticipate this ongoing review being completed over the next two weeks."

House Democrats warned that they were reviewing "all legal options," saying the DOJ violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act's requirement that all unclassified files must be made public within 30 days of the bill's passage. That deadline is Dec. 19.

Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge to throw out her conviction, claiming in a petition that juror misconduct, suppressed evidence and alleged coordination between prosecutors and victims’ lawyers landed her behind bars.

Maxwell, the longtime associate and convicted accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, filed the sweeping habeas motion pro se earlier in December, arguing that "newly discovered evidence" proves she never received a fair trial. The request came just days ahead of the deadline for the DOJ to release the Epstein documents by Dec. 19.

The 63-year-old is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges tied to Epstein’s decades-long abuse network.

Her filing arrives as the Department of Justice faces growing pressure to comply with the newly enacted Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the release of long-sealed investigative documents linked to Epstein and his associates.

A central claim in Maxwell's latest petition targets Juror No. 50, who publicly revealed after the verdict that he had been sexually abused as a child, a detail he did not disclose on his juror questionnaire.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., panned the phased release of documents and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, arguing that it was “just a fraction of the whole body of evidence.”

The Department of Justice dumped a trove of the so-called Epstein Files, filled with photos, redacted lists, and methodology on the investigation into Epstein’s death in custody years ago.

Congressional Democrats were already in arms after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced phased releases of the files, given that Congress set the statutory deadline for every shred of information, with exceptions, to be released on Dec. 19.

Schumer contended that the law called for “complete release of the Epstein files so that there can be full transparency.”

“This set of heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today is just a fraction of the whole body of evidence,” Schumer said in a statement. “Simply releasing a mountain of blacked out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law. For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out. We need answers as to why.”

“Senate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable,” he continued. “We will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out.”

The DOJ began posting thousands of files related to Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking cases on Friday, including photos, court records and heavily redacted information about potential victims.

The photos included the interiors and exteriors of Epstein's properties and personal photos of Epstein with various high-profile figures including former President Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger.

Some of the data was heavily redacted, such as a seven-page list titled "Masseuses" with more than 200 apparent names blacked out. The redactions were used, in part, to block out information that would identify potential victims. Some New York grand jury material also appeared in the compilation of files and was also heavily redacted.

The files are accessible at a public website here.

The department has said it plans to upload more files in the coming days and weeks.

It’s unclear why the Biden administration did not release the Epstein files — a sprawling trove of tens of thousands of pages of evidence and documents — including sensitive information related to witnesses, grand jury participants and victims of former financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein during decades of trafficking and abuse. 

Unlike President Donald Trump’s administration, neither former President Joe Biden nor any administration officials had committed to releasing the information publicly — in part, perhaps, an acknowledgement of how difficult that task would prove to be, given the depth of physical, digital, and written evidence that would need to be meticulously reviewed prior to being released.

In contrast, senior Trump officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, vowed earlier in 2025 to release much of the Epstein information to the public, in a nod to transparency. That prompted weeks of intense backlash beginning in July, when the Justice Department said in an unsigned memo that it did not plan to release more information about the investigation. They also said there was no "client list," as had been suggested. 

Trump, for his part, has called for the Justice Department to release "all credible" evidence in the files. 

Still, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee in August subpoenaed a litany of former government officials — including former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for testimony regarding Epstein, Fox News reported. Biden is not among the individuals listed by the committee.

Jeffrey Epstein’s former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was transferred about one week ago from a maximum-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum-security one in Bryan, Texas.

The reason for the transfer remains unknown, but came days after the DOJ met with Maxwell in Florida and questioned her for two days. Maxwell has been serving out a 20-year sentence for charges involving sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy.

A former Bureau of Prisons official told Fox News Digital the transfer of a sex offender to a friendlier facility was “highly unusual.”

The prison in Bryan is an all-women facility housing about 600 inmates, including Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and celebrity housewife Jen Shah.

The family of Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide this year, criticized the Trump administration for extending “preferential treatment” to Maxwell in response to her transfer.

“The Trump administration should not credit a word Maxwell says, as the government itself sought charges against Maxwell for being a serial liar. This move smacks of a cover up,” the family said. “The victims deserve better."

This is an excerpt from a Fox News Digital story published Aug. 1, 2025.

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Jess Michaels was raped in 1991 by the late, disgraced New York financier and sex trafficker when she was 22, as she recounted in a TedX Talk in 2023.

At the time, Michaels said, she was living in New York City as a professional dancer. She was introduced to Epstein by a former roommate.

Michaels has emerged in the years since as a vocal advocate for victims of sexual violence and rape. She has spoken out about her own experience in interviews on podcasts and in other interviews in hopes of encouraging other rape victims to come forward. 

During the second Trump administration, Michaels has also been a leading voice among in demanding transparency from the administration over its handling of the Epstein case, including publicly releasing files related to the investigation.

“You never hear the words 'Epstein victim' or 'Epstein survivor' out of this White House,” she told the group Democracy Forward, which sued the administration in federal court Friday to release the files.

“The victims of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have been speaking up for almost two decades,” Michaels said. “It is appalling that there is so little justice for this issue.”

Democrats from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced Wednesday that they have "received never-before-seen photos and videos of Jeffrey Epstein's private island that are a harrowing look behind Epstein’s closed doors."

"See for yourself. We won’t stop fighting until we end this cover-up and deliver justice for the survivors," Oversight Dems wrote on X.

"This production is in response to an Oversight Committee request to the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice for additional information to aid in the ongoing Committee investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes," it added in a statement. "The Committee also received records from J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank. Oversight Democrats intend to release files to the public after review in the days ahead."

The photos and video released by the House Oversight Dems purportedly show various rooms inside buildings on Little Saint James island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as other locations on the island.

MAGA supporters are frustrated with President Donald Trump after he defended Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose DOJ denied the existence of a Jeffrey Epstein client list.

Conservatives voiced outrage online and at a Florida convention, pledging the Epstein scandal won't “go away.”

The DOJ determined Epstein committed suicide in 2019 and that no list exists.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn warned unanswered questions could stall progress in other areas of national progress.

Trump defended Bondi on Truth Social, saying she’s doing a “FANTASTIC JOB.” Bondi previously said the Epstein file was “sitting on her desk,” later clarifying that JFK and MLK files were also prepared for release.

Longtime Trump supporters like Laura Loomer warned GOP losses could follow. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that some "conspiracy theories" about Epstein weren’t true.

Later, some conservatives at Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit spoke out against the DOJ and Trump over the lack of answers regarding Epstein.

This is an excerpt from a Fox News Digital story published July 13, 2025.

A photo of former President Bill Clinton and the late Michael Jackson and singer Diana Ross were part of the tranche of files released Friday in the Department of Justice's Jeffrey Epstein drop.

The agency posted thousands of pages on a government website Friday related to Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking cases. The files were released as the result of a deadline imposed by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Fox News Digital learned that over a dozen of politically exposed individuals were included in the documents, according to a DOJ source. Some redaction standards were imposed for these individuals Fox News was told.

Inclusion in the files do not necessarily imply wrongdoing.

The DOJ also indicated it discovered more than 1,200 victims and their families during their review.

Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced financier, purchased Little St. James Island, a 73-acre retreat in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1998.

The infamous island played a significant role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. It included a lavish compound, guesthouses, and private docks.

Multiple victims and witnesses testified that the remote property served as a location where Epstein and his associates sexually abused underage girls. He lured victims to the island under the guise of offering modeling or educational opportunities.

Authorities raided the property following Epstein’s 2019 arrest, seizing computers, documents, and surveillance equipment as part of their investigation into sex trafficking charges.

Many have since demanded the full release of Epstein’s flight logs to the island, which are believed to contain the names of high-profile people who visited the property.

The American Economic Association (AEA) slapped Larry Summers, a former president of Harvard University, with a lifetime ban earlier this month, citing ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers had initially stepped down from the association and had also resigned his post at Harvard under scrutiny for his relationship with Epstein.

"The American Economic Association (AEA) has accepted Lawrence H. Summers' voluntary resignation from membership and, pursuant to the AEA's Policies, Procedures, and Code of Professional Conduct, has imposed a lifetime ban on his membership," a statement put out by the organization read."

The AEA condemns Mr. Summers' conduct, as reflected in publicly reported communications, as fundamentally inconsistent with its standards of professional integrity and with the trust placed in mentors within the economics profession," the statement said.

Although Summers’ relationship with Epstein is well documented in emails released by the Epstein estate, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

One of the emails released in November describes Epstein as a “wingman” for Summers.

The Department of Justice's release of Jeffrey Epstein documents on Friday afternoon included a heavily-redacted list of masseuses, Fox News Digital found.

"MASSEUSES," reads the top of a document released in the Epstein drop, followed by 254 spots that are all blacked out.

The document notes: "Redacted to protect potential victim information."

The DOJ released thousands of documents related to the convicted sex trafficker on Friday afternoon. President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan law in November that required the Department of Justice to release all "unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials" within 30 days of Trump's signature – or Dec. 19. 

Kevin Spacey is demanding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

The 65-year-old actor spoke out last month as the Trump administration faced backlash over its handling of documents in Epstein’s sex trafficking case. Leaders of the Department of Justice and the FBI have come under fire after closing an inquiry into the case without releasing new files.

"Release the Epstein files. All of them. For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can’t come soon enough. I hate to make this about me — but the media already has," Spacey wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

In December 2021, Epstein's former pilot, Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr., named Spacey during testimony for Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial. At the time, Visoski claimed Spacey had once flown on one of Epstein's planes. 

In January 2024, Spacey was among the celebrities whose names appeared in a trove of unsealed documents relating to Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Maxwell. 

The late disgraced financier had many high-profile connections, including former U.S. presidents, foreign prime ministers and Britain's Prince Andrew, as well as Hollywood stars, leading academics, people in the modeling and fashion industries and other public figures. 

None of the celebrities named in the court documents, which included Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jackson, Cameron Diaz, Cate Blanchett and Bruce Willis, among others, were accused of any wrongdoing. The stars' names were mentioned by Giuffre and another alleged Epstein victim, Johanna Sjoberg.

This is an excerpt from a Fox News Digital story published July 16, 2025.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said he won’t consider the Epstein files released until he sees a specific list of names he believes will emerge when the dust settles.

"So, if we get a large production on December 19th, and it does not contain a single name of any male who's accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven't produced all the documents," Massie said.

Massie’s comments come as the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would blow past the Friday deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In an appearance with Fox and Friends, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department would need to roll out its releases over the next few weeks but that he expects the release several thousand documents on Friday.

It remains unclear what proportion of its files on Epstein the DOJ plans to release on Friday.

One section of the newly released Epstein Files, disclosed Friday as part of the first phase of declassification, is labeled “Contact Book” and contains a list of names with all associated contact information redacted, according to Fox News' Jake Gibson.

Among the recognizable names appearing in that section are singer Phil Collins and his then-wife Orianne, actress Minnie Driver and Dr. Elie Wiesel. The presence of a name in the contact book does not indicate wrongdoing, and no addresses, phone numbers or other identifying details were made public.

Hundreds of thousands of pages of newly released Jeffrey Epstein records include the names of more than a dozen politically exposed people and government officials, according to sources familiar with the documents.

The late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein discussed President Donald Trump  in emails released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday.

The Democrats on the committee released three emails Wednesday that Epstein’s estate provided them — prompting Republicans to release their own stash of 20,000 pages of Epstein documents hours later, while the White House accused Democrats of seeking to distract from the government shutdown.

Included in the documents released Wednesday are emails between Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and correspondence with author Michael Wolff, former President Barack Obama's White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler, among others, where Epstein mentions Trump.

"i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. (VICTIM) spent hours at my house with him, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there," Epstein said in an email to Maxwell in April 2011, which was provided with other correspondence to the committee by Epstein’s estate in response to a subpoena request.

"I have been thinking about that…" Maxwell said in response.

In another email from 2019, Epstein told Wolff that "of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop," referencing Trump. The president previously told reporters in July that he had prohibited Epstein from the president’s Florida Mar-a-Lago golf club because Epstein kept "taking people who worked for me."

While the documents themselves are authentic, Epstein’s statements in the emails remain unverified and uncorroborated. They do not allege wrongdoing by Trump; they only show Epstein referencing him. Trump has not faced formal accusations of misconduct tied to Epstein, and no law enforcement records connect Trump to Epstein’s crimes.

The White House has dismissed the emails as a "distraction."

"These emails prove literally nothing," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. "Liberal outlets are desperately trying to use this Democrat distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight."

Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at 41 years old, was one of the most prominent accusers of the alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, along with his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and their friend, the British Prince Andrew.

Her court battles made public thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein's case, including Epstein's contact book and flight logs and sworn depositions from Epstein and Maxwell.

Giuffre alleged that Maxwell lured her to work for the late New York convicted sex trafficker when she was around 17 years old. 

She also notably accused Prince Andrew of sexual exploitation in 2021. He settled a lawsuit with her in 2022 while denying the allegation.

Her family recently raised concerns about any sort of deal being made with Maxwell, as she was recently moved to a different prison with reportedly better conditions and rumors of possible clemency.

"The government and the President should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency," the family recently wrote in a statement. 

Witness testimony, if any, released in the Jeffrey Epstein files drop would likely be from two law enforcement sources, according to an FBI agent and an NYPD detective.

These were the two testimonies requested by the Department of Justice, made last month in the grand jury cases against Epstein and his associate Ghislane Maxwell.

"Here, there was one witness — an FBI agent — during the Epstein grand jury proceedings," the filing from the DOJ stated. "There were two witnesses—the same FBI agent from the Epstein grand jury proceedings and a detective with the NYPD who was a Task Force Officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force—during the Maxwell grand jury proceedings." 

It is rare for grand jury transcripts to be made available, but it is ultimately up to courts to decide whether or not the documents should be released.

President Donald Trump requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi ask the judicial branch to have Grand Jury testimony made public.

"Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval," Trump wrote on Truth Social in July. "This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!"

This is an excerpt from a Fox News Digital story published July 30, 2025.