Justice Department is releasing millions of pages of documents in Epstein investigation

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a press conference at the US Department of justice on January 30, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche fielded questions from reporters for almost 30 minutes earlier today after announcing the end of the Justice Department’s review of the Epstein files.

It is not unusual for Justice Department officials to refuse to take any questions after making a big announcement. But Blanche took questions from nearly every journalist in attendance, including inquiries about the DOJ’s widely criticized handling of the so-called Epstein files and communications with the White House, as well as the department’s handling of investigations in Minnesota and Fulton County, Georgia.

Prosecutors usually provide tightly scripted answers, but Blanche took a different approach, pushing back on some reporters and even making a joke in response to a question about former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who has been arrested in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church.

While the presser was, at times, combative, it also provided reporters a chance to seek clarity on a recent flurry of Justice Department activities. It is also notable that the deputy attorney general, the department’s second in command, made this announcement. Such high-profile announcements are usually done by the attorney general, but Pam Bondi has been widely criticized for her handling of the Epstein file releases, so it was not surprising that Blanche was the person making the announcement.

Rep. Ro Khanna talks with reporter after the last votes of the week outside the US Capitol on Thursday, January 15.

California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna questioned why the DOJ has only released about 3.5 of the over 6 million potential pages in the Epstein files. Khanna authored the federal law passed in November that required the DOJ to release all Epstein-related files.

“Failing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions,” Khanna wrote in a statement released today.

Khanna said he will closely review for the release of information he’s “been pushing for,” including 302 victim interview statements and emails from Epstein’s computers.

In the immediate aftermath of the Justice Department releasing millions of additional Jeffrey Epstein-related files on Friday, some survivors tell CNN that they have found numerous examples of victims’ names appearing unredacted throughout the documents.

One woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous as “Jane Doe,” has already found her name in multiple places, including in email exchanges she previously had with Epstein.

The woman’s lawyer, Jennifer Plotkin, who represents multiple “Jane Doe” Epstein victims, told CNN on Thursday that she had previously reached out to the DOJ asking that the department correct the fact that this client’s name was exposed in previous batches of files. Plotkin said she never heard back from the agency.

Other survivors tell CNN that they have also uncovered their own and other victims’ names.

The failure to properly redact victims’ names came despite Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying in a press conference Friday morning that the agency prioritizes victims’ privacy and well-being. Still, he added, “mistakes are inevitable,” and he encouraged anyone who sees problems to reach out to a DOJ email tip sheet.

Kathy Ruemmler, the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and a White House counsel under former President Barack Obama, called Jeffrey Epstein “wonderful Jeffrey” and said “I adore him” in a December 2015 email exchange which appears to show Epstein booking and paying for her to have a first-class trip to Europe.

The email exchange, dated December 25–26, 2015, appears to show Epstein telling a redacted individual to arrange Ruemmler’s travel. The redacted individual explicitly proposed booking the f lights on Epstein’s credit card.

At the time, Ruemmler was the head of the white-collar crime practice at the law firm Latham and Watkins, which has said Epstein was never a client.

When the redacted individual asked Ruemmler if the trip needed to be organized on Christmas Day, Ruemmler replied, “Merry Christmas! No, no, no – I am so sorry for the intrusion. Please enjoy the day. Jeffrey is just being wonderful Jeffrey.”

A day later in response, Ruemmler provided her frequent-flyer number, and preferred route for an international trip to Geneva, with uncertainty about where she would return from.

When the redacted individual organizing the trip for Ruemmler replied that Epstein is “so very kind,” Ruemmler responded, “I know, and I never feel as if I can return the kindness adequately. I hope you are having a wonderful day.”

The redacted individual then told Ruemmler that Epstein considered her a “very good friend,” to which Ruemmler responded, “Well, I adore him. It’s like having another older brother!”

The December 2015 emails add to a body of past KFILE reporting that has raised questions about the nature and extent of Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein.

As previously reported, Epstein referred to Ruemmler in a message as “my great defender,” sought her advice as he faced renewed scrutiny over his abuse of underage girls, and relied on her input while crafting responses to critical media coverage.

KFILE previously reported that Ruemmler appeared repeatedly on Epstein’s calendars for meetings, meals, and travel between 2014 and 2019, and that unsealed court records describe her providing legal advice on matters including media strategy, correspondence with lawmakers, and efforts to preserve Epstein’s controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement.

Epstein’s estate has asserted attorney-client privilege over hundreds of emails involving Ruemmler, a claim that legal experts have said is inconsistent with the idea of a purely casual or informal relationship.

Ruemmler has said she regrets ever knowing Epstein and has denied representing him or advocating on his behalf. Goldman Sachs, where she now serves as chief legal officer, has said her relationship with Epstein was professional.

“As Kathy has repeatedly said, she had a professional relationship with Epstein. In fact, the plane ticket you’re highlighting was in relation to a business meeting with the mutual client that Epstein referred to Latham and Watkins,” a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told CNN.

Howard Lutnick in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Howard Lutnick, the current US secretary of commerce and former CEO of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, was a longtime neighbor to Epstein. Lutnick lived next door to Epstein in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood.

Lutnick once described Epstein showing him and his wife a “massage room” in Epstein’s townhouse in 2005 that disgusted the couple, saying they decided they would “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”

But an email from the newest batch of Epstein files shows that Lutnick sent an email to Epstein’s longtime assistant in November 2015 inviting Epstein to a Democratic fundraiser for Hillary Clinton that Lutnick hosted. It’s unclear whether Epstein attended.

CNN reached out to the Commerce Department for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Lawyer Brad Edwards speaks to the press after a bail hearing in US financier Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking case on July 15, 2019 in New York City.

Bradley Edwards, an attorney who represented dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, said the Department of Justice has violated their trust with the latest release of documents.

“What the Department of Justice has done today is devastating and disgusting. Through this final release of documents, the Department has flagrantly violated the trust, privacy, and the rights of more victims than perhaps ever before,” Edwards said.

The attorney said the DOJ failed to appropriately redact victims’ information in the documents.

Officials at the FBI compiled a list of sexual assault allegations related to President Donald Trump this past August — many of which appear to have come from unverified tips — and the list was included as part of the millions of documents in the new Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department on Friday.

Two versions of the document appeared to have been removed from the Justice Department’s website on Friday afternoon. CNN has reached out to DOJ for comment on why they were removed.

It’s not clear why the FBI officials created the list of allegations related to Trump last year. The document was included in emails that were sent by officials in the FBI’s New York field office on the Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force. Trump has long denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

There are more than a dozen allegations included in the document. “Yellow highlighting is for the salacious piece,” one official writes to explain how the allegations were being sorted.

The allegations appear to be unverified, and the officials note that some are secondhand information. They appear to have been allegations that were received through the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center, which takes tips by phone and electronically. The document notes that in many instances, there was no contact made with the individuals who sent in the allegations, or no contact information was provided.

Some of the allegations were followed up on. One was sent to the FBI’s Washington field office to conduct an interview, and another was deemed not credible, according to the document.

“Was there anything in the file re follow up with the below individuals? 302s. etc?” one official writes.

There are also allegations made in the document against former President Bill Clinton, who has denied wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Asked for comment on allegations against Trump in the documents, the White House referred a reporter to the Justice Department press release, which says, “This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”

This item has been updated with a statement from the White House.

Epstein abuse survivor speaks to CNN following release of Epstein documents by DOJ

06:04 • Source: CNN

Epstein abuse survivor speaks to CNN following release of Epstein documents by DOJ

06:04

Epstein survivor Haley Robson called for increased transparency from the DOJ following the release of more Epstein files this morning. She said there was still more information about her own case, for instance, that she was seeking.

“Give me a break,” Robson said on Blanche’s comments about maintaining the privacy of survivors. “You’re not going to gaslight me into believing that this administration has prioritized the survivors or has cared about the survivors,” she told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “The Situation Room”.

After Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre filed a defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, Jeffrey Epstein sat for a deposition in the case, which was first unsealed in 2024.

In the deposition from September 2016, Epstein repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate when asked more than a dozen questions about his relationship with former President Bill Clinton or the Clinton Foundation.

Some examples of the questions asked to Epstein were to “Please describe all dinners you’ve ever had with Bill Clinton” and “Please list every place you and Bill Clinton have ever been together.”

Lawyers also asked Epstein repeatedly about whether Clinton visited his private island and flew on his private plane. They also repeatedly asked Epstein whether he’s heard of the Clinton Foundation and for all his interactions with it.

For every question, Epstein responded: “Fifth.”

A spokesperson for Clinton has repeatedly said the former president cut ties with Epstein before he was charged with soliciting prostitution in 2006 and didn’t know about his crimes.

Recently, the Clintons rebuffed a subpoena from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to have them testify in a congressional probe related to Epstein. The House voted to hold the Clintons in contempt earlier this month.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks at a news conference to announce an update on the Epstein files at the Department of Justice on January 30, in Washington, DC.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday the White House had “no oversight” of the review of documents related to the Epstein investigation.

“Let me just be clear — they had nothing to do with this review,” Blanche said. “They had no oversight over this review. They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact.”

Critics have repeatedly accused the Justice Department of withholding documents that referenced President Donald Trump and of attempting to divert attention away by implying democratic officials were involved in Epstein’s alleged abuse.

Blanche repeatedly denied the assertion, firmly stating that “we did not protect President Trump.”

“There’s this mantra out there that the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump,” he said. “That’s not true. That was never the case. We are always concerned about the victims.”

The deputy attorney general conceded, however, that “There’s a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

The latest tranche of Epstein documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday include fresh information about his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, including booking photos with weight and height details, as well as pictures of her New Hampshire home from search warrant requests.

This photo released in the Epstein documents shows a booking photo of Ghislaine Maxwell from 2020.

The photo from the Epstein documents shows a picture of Ghislaine Maxwell's New Hampshire home.

The newly released documents also contain dozens of Maxwell’s financial records.

There are documents from Maxwell-linked accounts at UBS, including one that described her investments and showed a balance of $773,775 in March 2019.

There is also a letter describing a $1 million wire transfer in 2016, as well as IRS documents about her tax returns.

CNN's Paula Reid asks Deputy AG Blanche questions during DOJ Press Conference

03:31 • Source: CNN

CNN's Paula Reid asks Deputy AG Blanche questions during DOJ Press Conference

03:31

CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid, who attended the Department of Justice’s news conference announcing the release of additional documents in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, asked Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche whether additional open investigations were ongoing.

Blanche said that some documents would be withheld due to “ongoing investigations.”

Watch what he said above.

Among the millions of pages of documents, images and videos related to Jeffrey Epstein that the Justice Department released on Friday appear to be numerous “302” forms — written documentation of interviews that the government has conducted.

This is potentially significant because these 302 forms could be related to past interviews that federal agents conducted with alleged Epstein victims. Some survivors have told CNN that they have been desperately in search of information that they previously reported to the FBI about Epstein’s alleged crimes and misconduct, wondering whether what they reported to law enforcement was ever acted upon.

It’s clear scrolling through some of the 302 forms, however, that they contain heavy redactions. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear that the department sought to redact any personal identifying information about victims, among other things.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said members of Congress can view unredacted versions of the Jeffrey Epstein files at the Department of Justice.

The DOJ is allowed to make certain redactions, including personally identifying information of victims, child sexual abuse materials, or information that would jeopardize an active federal investigation.

But lawmakers have criticized the DOJ’s redactions so far, and Blanche’s comments today provide members with a new opportunity to view the materials in full.

An age verification prompt appears on the U.S. Department of Justice website before access is granted to the Epstein Library’s Data Set 9 files, which contain records released under DOJ disclosures.

The new tranches of Epstein files the Justice Department released Friday begins with a new page asking whether users are 18 years of age or older.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, announcing the release, said that the 2,000 videos and 180,000 images released are not all from Epstein or those close to him, noting that they may be explicit in nature.

“They include large quantities of commercial pornography and images that were seized from Epstein’s devices, but which he did not take, or that someone around him did not take,” Blanche said.

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a press conference at the US Department of justice on January 30 in Washington, DC.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche addressed which files were withheld as new documents have been released from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein today.

“The categories of documents withheld include those permitted under the act to be withheld,” Blanche said.

Here’s what he said is not in the release:

“Although the act allows for withholding for items necessary to keep secret in the interest of national security or foreign policy, no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis,” Blanche added.

Material marked with evidence tape is shown in this image from the estate of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on December 19.

The Justice Department has completed its review of records related to Jeffrey Epstein and will release the documents throughout the day Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced.

“Today, we are producing more than 3 million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images in total, that means that the department produced approximately three and a half million pages in compliance with the act,” Blanche said at a press conference at 11 a.m. ET.

The release will end the months of tension between the Justice Department, federal judges, and some lawmakers over if, and how, to release more than one million documents from the investigation into to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

But it’s not clear whether the release of documents will conclude the year-long public outcry from critics who say the department, and Pam Bondi herself, did not follow through on their promise for transparency into what investigators had uncovered in their probe into Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.

The Justice Department has been plagued by the Epstein case since last February when Bondi said that the long-rumored “client list” was sitting on her desk for review. The DOJ later said that Bondi misspoke and was referring generally to documents from his case.

A few months later, however, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo that affirmed Epstein died by suicide, said there was no evidence of a client list, and reneged on Bondi’s promises to release investigative files. The memo sparked bipartisan outrage and eventually resulted a new transparency law passed by Congress.

Documents from Jeffrey Epstein, including a sheaf of entirely redacted pages, are seen in a handout released by the US Justice Department in Washington, DC, on December 19.

The Justice Department just released more files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

CNN reporters are going through them now, and as we wait to learn more details about the contents of today’s release, here’s a quick recap of where things stand:

How we got here: Congress passed a law in November — with near-unanimous support — giving the Justice Department a December 19, 2025, deadline to release all of its files. Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls, died by suicide in 2019.

Few files released so far: The Justice Department earlier this month said it had released 12,285 documents — less than 1% — of its Epstein-related files, with more than 2 million documents still in review. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS between January 9-12 found that few Americans are satisfied with the amount of evidence released in the Epstein case, with most saying they believe the government is intentionally holding back information.

About the files: The files are made up of papers, videos, photographs and audio files that live within the FBI’s main electronic case management system and largely originate from the FBI’s two major investigations into Epstein, in Florida and New York, spanning decades. A July 2025 FBI memo said that the department had uncovered “more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence” during a review of the investigative materials.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department on November 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is holding a news conference now at the Department of Justice.

The news conference comes as the department releases more files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

The Justice Department released another tranche of files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein today.

CNN reporters are going through the documents now, and we will share information as we learn more.