Epstein Files: Millions of documents, photos, 2,000 videos; US government makes sensitive files public

Washington: The U.S. Justice Department on Friday released a large portion of its investigative records related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The disclosure was made under a law aimed at revealing what the government knew about Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls and his connections to wealthy and powerful individuals.

According to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, more than 3 million pages of documents were released in this phase. These files have been posted on the Justice Department's website and include records that were withheld in the initial release in December.

“Today we are producing more than 3 million pages, including 2000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein,” US Deputy Attorney General Blanche said.

“These include large quantities of commercial pornography and images seized from Epstein's devices,” he added.

How many pages are under review?

The disclosure was made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed after sustained public and political pressure. After missing a December 19 deadline set by Congress, the department said that hundreds of lawyers were reviewing 5.2 million pages of documents to redact information necessary to protect the identities of victims and ongoing investigations.

The thousands of pages released just before Christmas included many documents that were either already public or heavily redacted. These files included flight logs from the 1990s that mentioned Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

When did Epstein commit suicide?

Neither man has been accused of any wrongdoing, and both have denied any knowledge of the activities. Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in jail in 2019. In 2021, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and is serving a 20-year sentence.