Justice Department releases files tied to Jeffrey Epstein case

A redacted phone message for Jeffrey Epstein saying "I have a female for him," are seen in this document released by the US Justice Department, then printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters on Friday, December 19.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Department of Justice to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by today. At around 4 p.m. ET today, the Justice Department released some of the documents.

CNN reporters are sifting through the files. Catch up on what we know so far:

CNN’s Elise Hammond, Kit Maher, Michael Williams, Marshall Cohen, Annie Grayer, Clare Foran, Aditi Sangal, Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck contributed reporting.

Michael Jackson and Jeffrey Epstein, in this undated photo released by the Justice Department on Friday, December 19.

Among the thousands of documents released as part of the Epstein files is a photo of pop icon Michael Jackson standing next to Epstein. The two are seen standing in front of a painting of what appears to be a naked woman. It is unclear when or where the photo was taken.

Another photo released shows former President Bill Clinton with his arm around Jackson. Supremes singer Diana Ross is to their right. Epstein is not pictured.

Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Diana Ross are seen in this undated photo released by the Justice Department on Friday, December 19.

Jackson died in 2009. CNN reached out to representatives for Clinton, Ross and Jackson’s estate for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

In 2003, Jackson was charged with child molestation and administering an intoxicating agent for the purpose of committing a felony against a 12-year-old boy and was later found not guilty.

Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of wrongdoing related to Epstein. His spokesperson has repeatedly stated that Clinton cut ties with Epstein well before Epstein’s 2019 federal indictment and was unaware of his criminal activities.

The Justice Department’s redactions of the Epstein files are vast – and the reasons for them go beyond what the law requires.

In a letter to Congress Friday describing the release, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Justice Department believes it can black out information, even when it falls outside of the legally mandated redactions for protecting victims, showing gruesome injury or abuse, exposing personal information, or jeopardizing ongoing investigations and national security.

Blanche writes that the Justice Department is also holding back what it believes would be protected internal information, including documents showing deliberative process, work product and attorney-client communications that would be privileged.

“Although the Act broadly categorizes items required to be produced, the Act does not include language expressly requiring the Department to produce privileged materials,” Blanche wrote.

The Department of Justice’s position on redacting privileged information from Friday’s release is likely to come under close scrutiny by those calling for transparency and from critics of the Trump administration’s handling of the document release.

House Democrats have already made clear on Friday that if the Justice Department wasn’t fully complying with the law, they could consider going to court to force more information in the documents to be released.

Former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey are seen in this undated photo released by the Justice Department on Friday, December 19.

One photo in the Epstein files shows former President Bill Clinton in London with his former top adviser Doug Band and actor Kevin Spacey inside the Cabinet Room of the Churchill War Rooms, an underground bunker complex in London that served as a command center during World War II.

The image appears to date from October 2002, when Clinton traveled to Africa on a humanitarian trip aboard Epstein’s private jet with Spacey and actor Chris Tucker. That trip included a stop in London, where Clinton delivered a speech to a Labour Party conference.

“It was a wonderful trip and I had such a good time I asked one of my traveling companions to come with me today, Kevin Spacey, who is over here,” Clinton said in his speech.

Band declined to comment to CNN.

Another photo shows Clinton in a different room in War Rooms with Band.

Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of wrongdoing related to Epstein. His spokesperson has repeatedly stated that Clinton cut ties with Epstein well before Epstein’s 2019 federal indictment and was unaware of his criminal activities .

Speaking on Spacey’s behalf, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, “we’re happy to see the files being released,” adding “that trip still remains a huge highlight in Kevin’s life and the fact that the plane was owned by Epstein (3 years before he would first be investigated) is meaningless. Whatever activities may have been taking place in the background have nothing to do with Kevin. No more than if someone is doing something wrong in the hotel room next to yours.”

White House communication aides are highlighting photos of former Democratic President Bill Clinton included among the thousands of documents released by the Justice Department related to Jeffrey Epstein.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung both reposted another user’s post showing an image of a shirtless Clinton in a jacuzzi next to another person whose face is redacted.

“Silly Willy!” Cheung posted on his White House X account. “Oh my!” Leavitt posted from her press secretary account.

It’s unclear where or when the photographs of Clinton were taken. CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Clinton regarding the new images.

Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges in 2019 and didn’t know about his crimes.

Rep. Mike Lawler in October.

GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York downplayed concerns over the Justice Department not yet releasing all of its records related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, despite the law stipulating the materials should be released in full today.

“I think given the volume of documents, you know — I assume they have a lot of people working on redacting, where appropriate within the law, and going through each of these documents to make sure that they are released appropriately,” Lawler told CNN.

Earlier today, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said more documents are still to come in the weeks ahead. He said in a letter to Congress today that “final stages of review of some material continue,” and that he anticipates that will be finished “over the next two weeks.”

The law also stipulate the documents be searchable, but the DOJ website did not appear to immediately have that function.

Lawler said the DOJ should “comply fully with the law,” but given the vast number of records and the 30-day timeline from when the law was signed, “I’m not sure how realistic that really was.”

“I think they need to obviously comply expeditiously, and I do believe that’s their intent,” the lawmaker said.

The Justice Department released hundreds of thousands of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein today, some of them containing details of sexual abuse that can be distressing.

Here are some resources that can help:

• National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

This hotline is provided by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and is available 24/7. It is also available through online chat tool.

• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

This text line is also available 24/7 for victims of abuse and any other type of crisis.

• For help or resources for trafficking: Call 1-888-373-7888 or text “help” to BeFree, 233733.

This call center is operated by the nonprofit Polaris and provides immediate support and local and national resources, 24 hours a day. You can submit anonymous tips online here.

A page of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, released on Friday, December 19, which has been fully redacted.

As CNN reporters review the released records from the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, we are seeing information — in some case, entire pages — redacted by the Justice Department.

What the DOJ said on its website about redactions: While officials made “reasonable efforts” to redact “personal information pertaining to victims, other private individuals, and protect sensitive materials from disclosure,” they acknowledged that given the volume of documents and Friday’s deadline, there could still be “information that inadvertently includes non-public personally identifiable information or other sensitive content, to include matters of a sexual nature.”

The DOJ asked readers to reach out if they spot anything that needs redaction.

How the DOJ said it approached redactions: “Redactions of victim names and other identifying information have been applied. In audio files, redactions of victim names and other identifying information have been implemented through the use of a steady, solid tone.”

As a reminder, here are some hurdles that the DOJ faced while racing to redact some information before release, according to sources:

Read more about the race to redact here.

The Justice Department told Congress on Friday that in making the redactions to the Epstein files, it used a broad approach on whose names should be redacted.

Ultimately, more than 1,200 names were redacted, the Justice Department said. Any additional information that could result in those people’s identification, such as their images, were also redacted, according to the Justice Department.

Those people could be both victims and their relatives, the Department’s letter said.

“As part of the review and production, the Department solicited counsel for any victims of Jeffrey Epstein and invited counsel to provide us with names of victims, whether previously identified or not,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote to members of Congress explaining the release.

A pile of entirely redacted pages, released by the Department of Justice as a part of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, are seen printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the Justice Department over today’s release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, calling it “just a fraction of the whole body of evidence.”

Even though the law required DOJ to produce all of its materials by December 19, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a letter to Congress that the department has been receiving new information as recently as this week and suggested that the ongoing review process would be completed “over the next two weeks.”

“Senate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable. We will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out,” Schumer said.

The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC, on Friday.

Justice Department attorneys were instructed to report to Congress any “government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced” in the Jeffrey Epstein documents that were released, according to a copy of its review protocol shared with CNN.

The protocol document included multiple steps that DOJ attorneys referenced throughout their review process to ensure that the department was complying with the law passed by Congress.

It accompanied a letter that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent to Congress outlining the review and redaction process that DOJ undertook before distributing the materials.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent Congress a letter about Friday’s Epstein files release.

The deputy attorney general said more releases are expected in the coming weeks.

Read the full letter below.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to Congress explaining the department’s protocol for reviewing and redacting the Jeffrey Epstein files ahead of Friday’s release, including redacting the names of more than 1,200 victim names and their relatives.

To comply with the law, several redactions had to be made, according to the department. Information redacted, Blanche said, included any material that contained personally identifiable information of victims, child sexual abuse materials, classified national defense or foreign policy information, or would jeopardize an active investigation.

“This process resulted in over 1,200 names being identified as victims or their relatives. The Department has redacted reference to such names,” Blanche wrote.

Even though the law required DOJ to produce all of its materials by December 19, Blanche said the department has been receiving new information as recently as this week and suggested that the ongoing review process would be completed “over the next two weeks.”

“Today, the Department is producing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents responsive to the Act. This disclosure highlights President Trump’s, Attorney General Bondi’s, and Director Patel’s absolute commitment to transparency consistent with the law,” he wrote.

Blanche added that DOJ was also withholding and redacting “a limited amount of information otherwise covered by various privileges, including deliberative-process privilege, work-product privilege, and attorney-client privilege.”

Blanche argued that the law passed by Congress does not require DOJ to produce privileged materials but added that “a privilege log will be produced in due course as required under the Act.”

Blanche said that the review team at DOJ consisted of more than 200 Department attorneys.

In Friday’s production specifically, Blanche told Congress that the items released included:

“Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi, this unprecedented disclosure highlights our commitment to following the law, being transparent, and protecting victims,” Blanche wrote.

Rep. Ro Khanna on November 18, following a news conference about the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who co-authored the legislation that mandated the Justice Department release the Jeffrey Epstein files, told reporters that he was “disappointed” with the materials produced on Friday and that he will be exploring “all options” about what to do next.

Khanna said he would work with GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, who worked with him to push for the files’ release, to explore next steps. Khanna went as far as to say that pursuing impeachment could be on the table if DOJ does not ultimately fully comply.

“Thomas Massie and I will continue to explore all options to fight to make sure that they comply with the law, whether that is holding people in inherent contempt, recommending people for prosecution, recommending impeachment, or private lawsuits,” Khanna said.

The Justice Department’s massive trove of “Epstein files” includes thousands of apparently never-before-released documents along with thousands of files that were already public from various court cases and public records requests.

A new page on the Justice Department’s website, called the “Epstein Library,” spells out the four broad categories of documents disseminated on Friday.

Some of the files are new. Other files are clearly old. But for the first time, a sizable chunk of the massive universe of Epstein-related materials were all put together in one place.

Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein, in this undated photo released by the Justice Department on Friday, December 19.

Of the thousands of documents released as part of the Epstein files, several are never-before-released photographs of former President Bill Clinton with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

One image shows a shirtless Clinton in a jacuzzi next to another person whose face is redacted. There are additional photos of Clinton swimming in an adjacent pool with Maxwell. These pictures show another woman swimming with Clinton and Maxwell, but her face is redacted.

Another one of the new images shows Clinton holding a drink and standing next to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

It’s unclear where or when these photographs were taken. CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Clinton regarding the new images.

Bill Clinton, Ghislaine Maxwell and an unidentified person whose face has been redacted in this undated photo.

Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges in 2019 and didn’t know about his crimes.

“President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York,” Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Ureña, said in a 2019 statement posted to Twitter.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandated Friday’s disclosures, required the Justice Department to redact personally identifying information about Epstein’s victims. It’s unclear if the people near Clinton in these new images are victims of Epstein’s abuse.

The White House on Friday.

The White House is framing the Justice Department’s release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein as evidence of the administration’s transparency, while criticizing Democrats.

“The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history. By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

“And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. The American people deserve answers,” Jackson added.

Plaskett exchanged texts with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. A Democratic consulting group asked Epstein if he wanted to participate in a fundraising dinner with Jeffries in March 2013; Jeffries has said he has no recollection of the message.

Trump, who’s been dogged by his administration’s handling of the files, ultimately backed the release of the files last month after members of his own party helped force a vote in the House to compel their release.

The Epstein Library on the US Department of Justice website, pictured on Friday, December 19.

The website that the Department of Justice used to publish the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation today was not immediately searchable — despite a search function being required in the law that mandated the documents’ release.

The Justice Department published thousands of files split between four data sets. The website includes a search bar but words inputted into it yield no results — including for basic queries like “Epstein” or “Maxwell.” A disclaimer on the site notes that “portions” of the documents may not be searchable “Due to technical limitations and the format of certain materials.”

The bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump signed last month, which mandated the release of the Epstein files, also required the database to be available in a searchable format.

An unsealed indictment of Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this handout page released by the US Justice Department, then printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters in Washington, DC, on Friday, December 19.

Sorting through the documents released by the Justice Department related to its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein is going to be a long process, CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz said this afternoon.

CNN teams are reading through the files right now and we will bring you key findings when we have them, but this effort is going to take some time.

This is for two main reasons, Polantz said.

First, the sheer volume of materials. The DOJ posted large data sets including documents, photos and audio on its website this afternoon.

Second, it’s important to understand the context, “to figure out not just what it is, but why it is there,” she said.

Many of those things are not labeled, Polantz said. “Some of these images have clearly very sensitive information in them. People’s heads are blacked out in a lot of them, especially women,” she said.

The newly released materials from the Justice Department could provide an “unprecedented look” at the behind-the-scenes workings of the agency’s investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said this afternoon.

Honig, a former assistant US attorney, said these are some of the documents that are typically part of DOJ investigations and could be part of the released records:

The Justice Department released large data sets, which CNN reporters are working on reading right now.

“This law is really quite broad in what it requires DOJ to turn over, so we should get an unprecedented look behind the door at DOJ,” Honig said.