Judge allows further release of grand jury materials in Epstein case
A Manhattan judge has authorized the release of sealed Epstein grand jury records after Congress passed the Epstein File Transparency Act.
One month after the Justice Department’s deadline to release all files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, millions more still remain to be released.
In November 2025, members of Congress overwhelmingly supported the Epstein File Transparency Act, which required the Justice Department to release all documents related to Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019.
President Donald Trump signed the law on November 19, 2025, giving the Justice Department 30 days to release all files except those that could violate victims’ privacy or jeopardize a federal investigation.
At the 11th hour of that deadline, Dec. 19, 2025, the department began releasing a series of emails, photos, and other documents related to Epstein. However, not all of the ministry’s files were released by the deadline. And many of them arrived at the Justice Department’s so-called Epstein Library with heavy redactions or no context at all.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time that attorneys were reviewing the documents to ensure that the victims were not named or identified, and that it would likely take several weeks to complete the remaining pages.
Now, 30 days after that deadline, we bring you the latest information on the release of the Epstein files.
The Justice Department announced earlier this month that millions of files were still under review.
The Justice Department said in a court filing earlier this month that about 13,000 documents have been posted to Epstein’s library so far, but up to 2 million more still need to be reviewed.
In a Jan. 5 filing with U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Attorney General Blanche said 400 attorneys and 100 document analysts were reviewing the documents to ensure the victims’ names were redacted.
In a separate court filing last week, the department said it had made “significant progress” in the review process since the Jan. 5 update, but it did not say how many more documents were still pending review.
“The Department is coordinating resources for this review from various departments and offices. Leaders from these various departments are on the phone daily (and in some cases twice a day) to address progress, coordination, deduplication, reviewer questions, victim issues, and technical issues,” Bondi and Blanche said in their Jan. 15 filing.
Congressional leaders ask independent agency to review Justice Department’s handling of Epstein file
Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the lead sponsors of a bill that would force the release of Epstein files, continue to push for judges to intervene in the review process.
In a Jan. 8 letter, the lawmakers asked Engelmayer to appoint a special monitor or independent monitor to ensure the Justice Department complies with the law for releasing the Epstein files.
“Not only is the Department of Justice’s actions a serious violation of its disclosure obligations under the Epstein File Transparency Act, but, as this court has recognized in previous decisions, the Department’s actions are deeply traumatizing to survivors,” the letter states.
Mr. Bondi and Mr. Blanchet filed a response with lawmakers on January 16, arguing that Mr. Massey and Mr. Khanna had no legal basis for their request.
USA TODAY reached out to the Justice Department for comment on January 20th.
Contributor: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
