DOJ Fails to Release Epstein Files After Congressional Mandate Despite Months of Preparation

The Department of Justice has failed to meet its congressionally mandated deadline to release documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the numbers reveal an astonishing lack of progress that should concern every American who believes in governmental transparency.

Here are the facts. The DOJ began releasing documents from its decades-long investigation into the disgraced financier last month. Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act with a clear December 19 deadline for document release. That deadline has come and gone, and more than two million documents remain unreleased.

In a letter sent Monday to a federal judge, DOJ officials admitted that these millions of documents remain “in various phases of review.” Translation: bureaucratic limbo. The department has managed to release approximately 12,285 documents totaling more than 125,000 pages. While that sounds substantial, it represents less than one percent of the material currently under review.

The situation became even more problematic when the DOJ revealed it identified more than one million additional files on December 24 that were not included in its initial review. The department claims some documents may be duplicates but still require “processing and deduplication.” This raises an obvious question: How does a federal agency tasked with investigating one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent American history not have a comprehensive grasp of its own files?

Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials signed a letter acknowledging that “substantial work remains to be done.” The DOJ has assigned more than 400 attorneys to spend “the next few weeks” reviewing the Epstein files. Few weeks. Not days. Weeks. For a deadline that already passed two weeks ago.

The political dimensions of this matter cannot be ignored. The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House last November after Democrats remained conspicuously silent on Epstein-related matters throughout the Biden administration. For four years, the party that claims to champion transparency and accountability showed little interest in pursuing the full truth about Epstein’s criminal network and potential co-conspirators.

The sudden Democratic enthusiasm for Epstein transparency in 2024 coincided with their attempts to politically weaponize the issue against Republicans. This represents classic political maneuvering: ignore an issue when it is politically inconvenient, then embrace it when it can be used as a cudgel against political opponents.

President Trump encouraged House Republicans to support the transparency act while simultaneously calling out what he termed a “Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics” designed to distract from Republican legislative successes.

The reality is straightforward. Americans deserve to know the full scope of Epstein’s criminal enterprise and anyone who enabled or participated in it, regardless of political affiliation. The DOJ’s failure to meet its deadline, coupled with the revelation that millions of documents remain unreviewed, suggests either gross incompetence or deliberate obstruction.

The passage of transparency legislation is meaningless if the executive branch simply ignores congressionally mandated deadlines. The DOJ must accelerate its review process and release these documents immediately. Justice delayed is justice denied, and two million unreleased documents represent two million reasons for the American people to demand accountability from their government.