WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that more than 1 million more files “potentially related to” late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein have been found by the Manhattan US attorney’s office — and that it “may take a few more weeks” to comply with the law mandating their release.
“The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have informed the Department of Justice that they have uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case,” the department said in a statement.
The discovery by US Attorney Jay Clayton’s team threatens to prolong public fixation on the disclosures, which have irked President Trump, who claims that interest in the case amounts to a witch hunt distracting from his accomplishments.
“The DOJ has received these documents from SDNY and the FBI to review them for release, in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, existing statutes, and judicial orders,” the Justice Department said.
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the statement went on.
“Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks. The Department will continue to fully comply with federal law and President Trump’s direction to release the files.”
Here’s the latest on the release of the Epstein files
- Tech-savvy users discover a way around redacted parts of Jeffrey Epstein files
- Epstein email shows feds tried to contact 10 ‘co-conspirators’ — including billionaire retail magnate behind Victoria’s Secret
- Purported Epstein letter that referenced President Trump is fake, DOJ says
- Latest Epstein files release includes post-suicide attempt report, grim photos 3 weeks before his death
- DOJ preemptively defends Trump as latest batch of Epstein files released: ‘Unfounded and false’
Sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which established a Dec. 19 deadline to release files, are threatening to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt for the incomplete release and the many redactions in initial dumps.
Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s who tried to derail the transparency law before ultimately signing it, fumed Tuesday about the massive attention devoted to the documents, saying “this is what the Democrats, mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans, are asking for.”
“I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown. I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump said.
“I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy, he can handle it. But you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago… And you ruin the reputation of somebody.”
‘Timing could not be worse’
The Justice Department pleaded Tuesday with federal prosecutors to volunteer to work through Christmas week to review remaining files — despite Wednesday, Thursday and Friday being designated paid holidays.
“I am aware that the timing could not be worse,” a supervising prosecutor wrote Tuesday to staff of the Miami US Attorney’s Office, requesting help during the “next several days.”
“For some the holidays are about to begin, but I know that for others the holidays are coming to an end,” the email stated, referring to the fact that Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish celebration, ended Monday.
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Trump has authorized Christmas Eve, Christmas and Dec. 26 to count as federal holidays — entitling most feds to paid time off to spend with their families.
That designation means that working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday could entitle some officials to double pay.
The solicitation for volunteers, first reported by CNN and confirmed to The Post by a Justice Department source, comes amid massive coverage of the files already released.
Transparency advocates, including members of Congress, who believe powerful men joined in Epstein’s victimization of more than 1,000 women and girls have expressed outrage over redactions in the files — and some photos have been perplexingly edited, such as censorship of images showing Epstein’s own naked backside on a beach and the redaction of his face, possibly in error, from a previously published photo with Clinton at Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s 2002 wedding.
The main Justice Department headquarters in Washington has been taking the lead in reviewing files and requested the extra help specifically from South Florida — after burning through millions in overtime on an FBI-led review this year that yielded a July memo insisting that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” which poured fuel on conspiracy theories.
The Miami-based US attorney’s office relayed to staff its “emergency request from the [Deputy Attorney General’s] office” specifically for “[assistant US attorneys] to do remote document review and redactions related to the Epstein files.”
“We have an obligation to the public to release these documents and before we can do so, certain redactions must be made to protect the identity of the victims, among other things,” the plea stated.
A Justice Department official told The Post that “we are wholeheartedly committed to releasing everything to the public as quickly as possible.”The authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), told The Post on Monday that they are considering legislation that would fine Bondi $5,000 per day in protest of withheld documents, including the heavy redactions to already released files.
