US Justice Department to review 5.2 million pages of Epstein files, document shows

The US Justice Department reveals it has 5.2 million pages of Epstein files left to review and needs 400 lawyers from four different department offices to help with the process through late January, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters.

This is likely to extend the final release of the documents to much later than expected after a December 19 deadline set by the US Congress, the document says.

The White House and the Justice Department do not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Trump administration ordered the Justice Department to release the files tied to criminal probes of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender, who was friends with US President Donald Trump in the 1990s, in compliance with a transparency law passed by Congress last month.

Collectively, the Criminal Division, the National Security Division, the FBI and the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan are providing 400 attorneys to review the files, the document says, a more precise, and potentially much larger, figure than previous estimates from the department.

The review will occur between January 5-23, the document added.

The department said last week it had uncovered more than a million additional documents potentially linked to Epstein.

The law, approved by Congress with broad bipartisan support, requires all Epstein-related files to be made public, despite Trump’s months-long effort to keep them sealed. Under the statute, all documents were to be released by December 19, with redactions to protect victims.