Justice Department Rushing to Redact Thousands of Pages in Jeffrey Epstein Files Before Friday Release Deadline: Report

The Department of Justice is reportedly racing to redact thousands of documents tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with only hours left before a Congressionally mandated deadline to release them on Friday, Dec. 19.

According to CNN, frustration is building inside the DOJ, citing multiple sources familiar with the process. One source told CNN that some attorneys have reviewed more than 1,000 documents each since Thanksgiving week. Those attorneys are making sensitive calls about legal privacy requirements, protections for Epstein’s victims, and other issues as they decide what must be redacted.

The effort is further complicated by concerns inside the DOJ’s National Security Division — the unit handling the redactions — that staff have not received clear direction on how to maximize transparency under the law Congress passed, multiple sources told CNN. One source said lawyers were given four pages of internal guidance on the redaction process, but that nearly every guideline reportedly contains an exemption.

Two sources also told CNN that counterintelligence specialists were asked to pause other work to help process Epstein-related files, though some declined.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment to CNN.

In November, Congress passed a bipartisan bill directing the Justice Department to publish “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein” by Dec. 19. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Nov. 19.

The Epstein files are expected to pull from multiple federal law enforcement agencies. One source told CNN the release could include duplicates — raising the possibility that the same document could be redacted differently across versions once the materials become public.

There are also concerns that private information could be released by mistake, similar to what happened earlier this year when Social Security numbers and other personal details were included in the release of more than 60,000 pages connected to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Epstein’s survivors may be especially uneasy, and some told CNN on Dec. 16 that the DOJ had not contacted them ahead of the release.

“We are kind of going at this in the dark right now,” survivor Dani Bensky told CNN in a joint interview with other survivors. “It’s a little bit tricky because we won’t see the files before they come. We don’t know what time they’re dropping on the 19th. We don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have continued releasing Epstein-related materials from a separate collection of more than 100,000 documents the committee obtained from Epstein’s estate — a set that is not connected to the DOJ’s upcoming release.