Epstein files to be released after months of delays from Trump officials

Huge archive – set to shed fresh light on Epstein’s misdeeds – legally obliged to be released before midnight deadline

Speculation surrounding the affairs of Jeffrey Epstein is expected to reach a defining moment of revelation on Friday with the much-anticipated publication of files relating to the disgraced late financier and sex trafficker.

The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said on Friday morning that the Department of Justice planned to release documents later in the day from the government’s files, but added they would not all come out at once.

“I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms – photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr Epstein,” he said on Fox & Friends.

After months of delay and stalling, the Trump administration is legally obliged to publish a vast archive of documents that could shine fresh light on Epstein’s misdeeds and his connections with key public figures, including Donald Trump himself.

Under the terms of the Epstein Files Transparency Act – passed by Congress in November following months of resistance from the White House – Pam Bondi, the attorney general, must release by midnight on Friday “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” linked to Epstein, his jailed associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, and individuals named in connection with his criminal activities.

The files are required to be released in “searchable and downloadable” formats.

Blanche said that the justice department had been “working tirelessly” since Trump signed the law “to make sure that we get every single document that we have within the Department of Justice, review it and get it to the American public”.

“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “So today, several hundred thousand, and then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”

The publication will come after months of clamoring for the release of the files from Trump’s make America great again (Maga) base, which has shown signs of fracturing over the issue.

Trump – who was a close friend of Epstein before a break-up for which he has given varying explanations – promised to order the release of the files during last year’s presidential race but backtracked after returning to office.

He faced a fierce backlash from his own supporters after Bondi declined to make the files public last summer, and dismissed speculation about the existence of an Epstein client list – despite having previously said it was sitting on her desk.

As pressure has built, the president has called the Epstein affair a “Democrat hoax” and lambasted his own supporters for focusing on it.

His close ally, Mike Johnson, the House of Representatives’ speaker, kept the chamber in recess for several weeks, in a failed effort to persuade rebel Republicans from backing a discharge petition that would force a floor vote on releasing the files.

Ultimately, the discharge petition passed and the House voted 427 to one in favor of their release. The Senate quickly followed, backing the release by unanimous consent.

Trump, reversing his previous opposition, promptly signed the bill into law.

The president’s opponents have voiced suspicions that whatever is released will be incomplete, with information that could be damaging to him possibly withheld.

The justice department is permitted to hold back records that identify victims, including images of child sexual abuse, or documents that have been deemed classified.

It also has discretion to withhold records that could prejudice a federal investigation. Trump last month ordered a criminal investigation into Epstein’s links with prominent Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton.

The act’s Democratic sponsors have pointed out that the legislation requires Bondi to release an unclassified summary explaining every piece of redacted or classified information.

Representative Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act alongside Republican Thomas Massie, warned in a speech on the Hill on Thursday that officials who fail to comply with the law – including Bondi – could face prosecution.

“Let me be very clear: we need a full release,” Khanna said. “Anyone who tampers with these documents or conceals documents or engages in excessive redaction will be prosecuted because of obstruction of justice. We will prosecute individuals regardless of whether they’re the attorney general or a career or political appointee. We need full transparency and justice for the survivors … finally, rich and powerful men who raped underage girls or who covered up for this abuse will be held accountable. The Epstein class needs to go.”

In an earlier speech in Congress, Khanna said: “If Pam Bondi does not comply with the law she will be held either in inherent contempt of Congress or subject to impeachment.”

Even before the expected release of the files, Democrats on the House oversight committee stepped up the pressure on Thursday by releasing a new tranche of 68 pictures from Epstein’s estate.

One showed Epstein sitting with the philosopher Noam Chomsky on a plane while another showed Bill Gates, the philanthropist and Microsoft founder, posing beside a woman whose face was redacted.

The Democrats said the images came from a larger batch of more than 95,000 photographs turned over last week by the Epstein estate. The photos were provided to Congress without context, timing or locations.

The images released on Thursday included heavily redacted photos of women’s passports from Ukraine, Russia, South Africa, Italy, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. There were also multiple photographs of a woman’s body on which quotes from Lolita, the Vladimir Nabokov novel about a man’s sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl, were written. A screenshot of a text message appeared to involve a discussion about recruiting an 18-year-old woman to meet Epstein.

“Oversight Democrats will continue to release photographs and documents from the Epstein estate to provide transparency for the American people,” Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the committee on oversight and government reform , said in a press release. “As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession. We must end this White House cover-up, and the DoJ must release the Epstein files now.”