Justice Department prepares to drop trove of Epstein files as deadline looms
Department of Justice officials are in their final sprint to assemble by Friday a tranche of records related to Jeffrey Epstein, but the extent of material that will be made...
By Fox News · Fox News
Department of Justice officials are in their final sprint to assemble by Friday a tranche of records related to Jeffrey Epstein, but the extent of material that will be made public remains unknown. The DOJ could withhold large portions of the material under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill passed last month requiring the government to release within 30 days all unclassified material in its possession related to Epstein’s and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking cases . The law allows the DOJ to omit or redact any references to victims and files that could jeopardize pending investigations or litigation, such as a probe Attorney General Pam Bondi recently opened in New York into Epstein's ties to Democrats. Information could also be left out "in the interest of national defense or foreign policy," the law says. Friday's release is expected to contain hundreds of thousands of pages, two sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. The sources said information protected by attorney-client privilege or other standard privileges would also be redacted. WHITE HOUSE SLAMS HOUSE DEMS RELEASING EPSTEIN PHOTOS SHOWING TRUMP, CLINTON, WOODY ALLEN The DOJ's behemoth effort has involved collecting records from multiple entities, including the FBI and the Southern District of New York, and then reviewing them for responsiveness to the transparency law and making redactions. The National Security Division was tasked with reviewing the material and was still receiving new files as of this week, the sources said, meaning more files could be made public after Friday's deadline. Bondi is facing intense pressure to adhere to the bill's deadline from victim advocates and Congress members, who have been warning nearly daily that the attorney general will face legal and political consequences if she does not deliver. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., threatened the administration not to withhold documents or abuse "narrow exemptions to hide…