The Department of Justice said Friday morning that it has not taken any steps to shield President Donald Trump as it processes and releases the massive trove of records tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigations.
Asked by a reporter whether “all documents, photos, and anything relevant to him [Trump] connected to the case is being released,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department has “complied with the statute,” adding: “we did not protect President Trump.”
“We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” Blanche told reporters. He added that public demand for information may not be satisfied even as more material becomes public. Blanche also argued that Trump has long held a consistent public position on Epstein and said the president’s direction to the department was straightforward: “to be as transparent: to release the files, be as transparent as we can, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Why It Matters
The Trump administration has faced criticism over what opponents describe as a slow and incomplete release of Epstein-related files, even as pressure has mounted from Republicans aligned with the MAGA movement. The backlash has included calls for investigations and potential penalties aimed at the Justice Department and its leadership. A central allegation from critics has been that the department sought to protect—or at least heavily redact—references to Trump, who was socially connected to Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
What To Know
Blanche spoke as the government released a large new batch of Epstein-investigation material. He said the release includes more than 3 million pages, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
The release stems from the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed into law last year. The act set an initial deadline of December 19 for the department to publish all related documents, a deadline the DOJ missed.
Before Christmas, the department released tens of thousands of documents—photos, interview transcripts, and court records—many of which had already been public or were heavily redacted. That earlier batch fueled concerns that some references to Trump may have been intentionally withheld.
Those earlier releases included flight logs that had previously circulated publicly, including records showing Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s. They also included several photographs of former President Bill Clinton. Neither Trump nor Clinton has been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Both have said they had no knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of underage girls.
Trump has repeatedly said that while he knew Epstein, renewed interest in the case is part of a Democratic hoax meant to damage him. He has also attempted to redirect scrutiny toward Clinton and other prominent figures whose names appear in the files. Critics, meanwhile, have accused Trump of pressuring the Justice Department to keep his name out of released material.
According to Blanche, the documents released Friday include multiple references to Trump, including allegations against him.
What People Are Saying
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking Friday: “My team has certain communications with the White House. Let me just be clear—they had nothing to do with this review, they had no oversight of this review, they did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact…there’s no oversight by the White House into the process we’ve undertaken over the past 60 days.”
The White House referred Newsweek to the DOJ press release, which in part read: “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.”
What Happens Next
Although Blanche said Friday’s release would be the final one, the contents of the millions of documents—and questions about Trump’s past relationship with Epstein—are likely to remain under scrutiny as journalists, lawmakers, and the public sift through the material.
