While there’s sure to be never-before-seen material in the thousands of pages likely to be released, a lot has already been made public.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is facing a looming deadline to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
After months of back-and-forth, Congress passed and President Donald Trump has signed a law compelling the Justice Department to give the public everything it has on Epstein — and it has to be done before Christmas.
As that deadline gets closer, multiple judges have recently granted requests to unseal material from investigations into the late financier’s sexual abuse.
When will the Epstein files be released?
The Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law on Nov. 19.
It requires the Justice Department to make the documents public in a searchable and downloadable format within 30 days of Trump signing it into law. That means no later than Friday, Dec. 19.
It’s not yet known what specific day or time the Epstein files will be released or if the Justice Department will give the public a heads up beforehand.
What won’t be released from the Epstein files?
Anything containing a victim’s personally identifiable information won’t be released.
The law allows the Justice Department to withhold or redact records that, if made public, would constitute “a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” It also bars the release of any materials depicting the sexual abuse of children, or images of death, physical abuse, or injury.
However, the law also makes clear that no records shall be withheld or redacted just because their release would cause embarrassment to any public figure, government official or foreign dignitary.
The law also allows the Justice Department to withhold files that it says could jeopardize an active federal investigation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi last week ordered a top federal prosecutor to lead an investigation into people who knew Epstein and some of Trump’s political foes, including Clinton.
That investigation, taken up at Trump’s urging despite the Justice Department previously finding no evidence to support such a probe, could give the government grounds to temporarily withhold at least some of the material.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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