--- title: Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Released So Far, DOJ Says description: Top DOJ officials said in a court filing that over two million documents "remain in various phases of review and redaction." canonical: https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-01-06T17:33:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:44:13.210Z article:section: Politics og:title: Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Released So Far, DOJ Says og:description: DOJ officials said in a court filing that over two million documents "remain in various phases of review and redaction." og:url: https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdfd07c85f90702/6998cc9f1500fb93e6aa6e51/GettyImages-2247293292.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: House To Vote On Release Of Epstein Files og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Released So Far, DOJ Says twitter:description: DOJ officials said in a court filing that over two million documents "remain in various phases of review and redaction." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdfd07c85f90702/6998cc9f1500fb93e6aa6e51/GettyImages-2247293292.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Have Been Released, DOJ Says > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Jan 6, 2026 5:33 PM UTC  Epstein abuse survivor Lisa Phillips speaks during a news conference with lawmakers on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on November 18, 2025. Epstein abuse survivor Lisa Phillips speaks during a news conference with lawmakers on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on November 18, 2025.Heather Diehl—Getty Images by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Jan 6, 2026 5:33 PM UTC More than two weeks after the deadline for the release of all files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, top Department of Justice officials have disclosed that more than 99% percent of the materials have not yet been made public. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in an [update](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.826.0.pdf) to a federal judge who oversaw the case against Epstein’s case on Monday that over two million documents “remain in various phases of review and redaction.” According to the letter, the DOJ has released roughly 12,285 documents to date, totalling around 125,575 pages of material. The officials reiterated that the review of the remaining files will require an enormous undertaking, estimating that around 400 lawyers “will dedicate all or a substantial portion of their workday to comply” with the law Congress passed in November to compel the material’s release, the [Epstein Files Transparency Act](http://google.com/search?q=site%3Atime.com+epstein+files+transparency+act+passed&rlz=1C5GCEM%5FenUS1161US1162&oq=site%3Atime.com+epstein+files+transparency+act+passed&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg60gEINzMyM2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), for the “next few weeks ahead.” They added that more than 100 “specially trained document analysts with experience handling sensitive victim materials” from the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be assisting. **Read more:**[_What Is—and Isn’t—in the Newly Released Epstein Files_](https://time.com/7342045/epstein-files-release-trump-bill-clinton-maria-farmer-1996-redactions/) The DOJ has faced criticism from lawmakers and Epstein survivors over its failure to release all the files by the Dec. 19 deadline. On that date, the department released an initial, incomplete batch of records, saying that hundreds of thousands more were expected to come in the weeks ahead. More documents and images were released in additional batches in the following days. On Dec. 24, the DOJ said it had identified over a million additional documents potentially related to Epstein that would require additional time to review. In the Monday update, the officials said that a “meaningful portion” of the documents appeared to be duplicative but noted that they will need to undergo a “deduplication” process. The officials again attributed the delay in releasing the files in part to the need to take steps to protect the victims referenced within them. The law allows for some information to be redacted from the files in order to protect the identities of victims, among other circumstances. A [group](https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/2003132974678892750/photo/1) of Epstein survivors in December, however, denounced the DOJ’s initial releases of the files for leaving what they described as “numerous victim identities” unredacted, even while elsewhere making “abnormal and extreme redactions” to the materials—which included a number of fully blacked out pages—“with no explanation.” **Read more:** [_What’s Redacted in the New Epstein Files and What Isn’t_](https://time.com/7342581/jeffrey-epstein-doj-justice-department-files-documents-redactions/) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [on Monday](https://x.com/senschumer/status/2008232235673989381?s=46) also criticized the DOJ for failing to submit a report to Congress including a list of political figures named in the files. “Trump’s DOJ has failed to submit a report to Congress, which is required to include a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials, without redactions,” he wrote in a post on X. “What are they trying to hide?” The Democratic lawmaker [accused](https://x.com/senschumer/status/2008232235673989381?s=46) the department of “lawlessness” and said he would “do everything in my power to ensure all the files come out.” After months of Republican pushback, the Epstein Files Transparency Act was ultimately passed by both houses of Congress in mid-November with broad bipartisan support and [signed by Trump](https://time.com/7335230/trump-signs-epstein-files-bill/) after the President reversed his own opposition to the measure and urged Republicans to support it. It is unclear when the next trove of documents will be released by the DOJ, or how long it will take for all files to be released. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/"},"headline":"Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Have Been Released, DOJ Says","datePublished":"2026-01-06T17:33:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:44:13.210Z","description":"Top DOJ officials said in a court filing that over two million documents \"remain in various phases of review and redaction.\"","url":"https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdfd07c85f90702/6998cc9f1500fb93e6aa6e51/GettyImages-2247293292.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Connor Greene","jobTitle":"Editorial Fellow","url":"https://time.com/author/connor-greene/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfdfd07c85f90702/6998cc9f1500fb93e6aa6e51/GettyImages-2247293292.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House To Vote On Release Of Epstein Files","caption":"House To Vote On Release Of Epstein Files","creditText":"Heather Diehl—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7343702/epstein-files-release-doj/","name":"Less Than 1% of the Epstein Files Have Been Released, DOJ Says"}}]}] ```