DOJ announces discovery of 1 million new documents

THE Ministry of Justice More than 1 million additional documents potentially linked to disgraced sex offender released Wednesday Jeffrey Epstein were discovered, slowing down the publication of the files which were to be made public last Friday.

“The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have informed the Department of Justice that they have discovered more than one million additional documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case,” the Justice Department said in a statement. post on.

“We have attorneys working around the clock to review and make legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible. Due to the massive volume of documents, this process may take a few additional weeks,” the post continues.

The Christmas Eve announcement sparked backlash from lawmakers who had previously criticized the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein cases.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who is conducting his own investigation into Epstein, in a statement accused the White House of engaging “in a cover-up protecting Epstein’s co-conspirators and powerful men who abused women and girls.”

“It is outrageous that the DOJ illegally withheld more than a million documents from the public,” said Garcia, who also called Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify before Congress.

The announcement came the same day as a bipartisan group of Senators requested an audit of the DOJ’s management of the Epstein Files.

In a letter to Acting Justice Department Inspector General Don Berthiaume, a group of 12 senators said the Justice Department violated a law – dubbed the Epstein files transparency law — which was passed by Congress and signed by the president Donald Trump in November. The law required a total release from Epstein Files with minimal deletions by December 19.

The lawmakers — led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. — said the DOJ withheld records, released documents already publicly available, and redacted some versions because “there are serious questions about whether the Department is properly applying the limited redaction exceptions permitted by law.”

“Given the administration’s historic hostility to the disclosure of records, the broader politicization of the Epstein case, and the failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a neutral assessment of its compliance with legal disclosure requirements is essential,” the group wrote.

Inspectors general are independent watchdog agencies that conduct audits and investigations of federal agencies. The DOJ inspector general is “ideally positioned” to conduct an audit because he has full access to the records, the lawmakers wrote.

At the start of his second term, Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general within the federal government, but spared the longtime DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitzwho had held this position since 2012. Horowitz left the post in June to take on the same role at the Federal Reserve.

Trump called on Berthiaume to become the DOJ’s internal watchdog in October.

The DOJ has released two major batches of Epstein Files since Dec. 19, but the slow flow of documents has angered lawmakers on both sides.

In a letter to Congress Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers that the DOJ would release the records on a “rolling” basis through the end of the year, defying the law’s requirements. It now appears that the release will continue into the new year.

“A Christmas Eve news dump containing ‘a million more files’ only proves what we already know: Trump is engaged in a massive cover-up. The question Americans deserve an answer to is simple: WHAT are they hiding and WHY?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a post on Wednesday.

Schumer pledged earlier this week to force the Senate to vote on sue the DOJ for complete release of files. And Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have threatened to hold Bondi and Blanche in inherent contempt.

“Survivors deserve justice. The DOJ’s release is not consistent with the Epstein Open Records Act and does not provide what survivors are guaranteed under the new law,” Massie said in a statement. post on Monday.

Trump, a former friend of Epstein, was largely absent when the DOJ first released the documents last Friday.

The latest batch of files, released Tuesday, includes numerous references to Trump, including an email suggesting that Trump often traveled on Epstein’s private plane in the 1990s.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing associated with the disgraced New York financier. On Tuesday, the DOJ said in a post on that “some of these documents contain false and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI just before the 2020 election.”

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump suggested he was open to declassification of certain Epstein filesbut fought for much of this year to keep them secret. He called the uproar over the Epstein files a “prank” and pressured some House Republicans to drop their support for legislation that would ultimately force their release.

As the Epstein Files Transparency Act appeared poised to move out of Congress, Trump belatedly gave the effort his blessing.

“Full transparency – as survivors have courageously and repeatedly demanded – is essential to identifying those members of our society who enabled and participated in Epstein’s crimes. Survivors deserve full disclosure,” the lawmakers wrote.

Murkowski was the only Republican to sign the letter, although the Epstein Records Transparency Act passed both chambers with broad bipartisan support.