The Epstein Files Transparency Act is a law passed by the 119th United States Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on November19, 2025. It requires the U.S. Attorney General to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format" all files (the "Epstein files") pertaining to the prosecution of the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (if needed, declassifying them to the extent possible) within 30 days of passage, and then to give the Judiciary Committees in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate an unredacted "list of all government officials and politically exposed persons" named in the files.
In September 2025, Representative Thomas Massie, a member of the Republican Party, filed a discharge petition in support of the bill. On November12, the discharge petition received the minimum-required 218 signatures needed, from 4Republican representatives (Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Massie) and 214Democratic Party representatives, forcing a House vote on the bill. The House of Representatives voted 427âÂÂ1 to pass the act on November18, 2025, with Republican representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana casting the lone nay vote. The next day, the Senate passed the bill via unanimous consent, and Trump signed the bill into law. The law gave the attorney general 30 days to release the documents.
On December 19, the U.S. Department of Justice released the first batch of Epstein files, violating U.S. law in failing to release all the files by that day. This failure received bipartisan criticism. Many documents contained extensive redactions, with hundreds of pages entirely blacked out. Following a delayed and heavily criticized rollout, the Department of Justice released additional files in waves, with a fifth release on January 30, 2026. Following this, the department claimed that it had fulfilled its legal obligations and released all available files, amounting to over 3.5 million pages. This announcement received pushback, with some reports indicating that the full Epstein files consist of over 6 million pages. A sixth release was published on March 5, 2026. Following this, about 50,000 previously removed files were restored, after review from the DOJ and FBI.
The publication of the Epstein files has led to the resignations of several prominent public figures and politicians, as well as the arrests of Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump, when asked by Rachel Campos-Duffy on Fox News in June 2024 whether he would release the Epstein files as president, answered "yeah, I would." In September, while appearing on Lex Fridman's podcast, Trump promised to release the Epstein files if elected. Trump won the 2024 election in November. In February 2025, the U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi stated in a Fox News interview that the Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review". Later that month, the White House gave binders to several prominent conservative and right-wing figures, including Liz Wheeler and Scott Presler, reading "Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified". Later that day, Representative Anna Paulina Luna criticized the event, stating that they released "old info".
On July7, Bondi released a statement saying that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found "no incriminating 'client list, contradicting her February statement. That day, DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that no further files from the Epstein investigation would be released. Bondi's statement drew outrage from conservative figures; Wheeler called it "unforgivable behavior", while the Hodgetwins called for Trump to fire Bondi. On July11, reports emerged that Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, had a heated confrontation with Bondi over her handling of the files, and was considering resigning. Bongino was later demoted to Co-Deputy Director on September 15, 2025; he later announced his upcoming resignation on December 17, 2025. On July12, Trump defended Bondi and referred to Epstein as "somebody that nobody cares about."
On July16, Trump referred to the Epstein files as "a big hoax." On July23, reports emerged that earlier in May, Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche informed Trump that his name was "among many in the Epstein files." Trump denied this report. Trump's change in position drew criticism from prominent podcasters close to Trump, as well as many conservatives. Joe Rogan accused the Trump administration of gaslighting the public, while Andrew Schulz said Trump was "insulting our intelligence". In August 2025, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied Bondi's request to unseal grand jury files from the Ghislaine Maxwell prosecution case.
On September 2, 2025, (the first day the House was back in session after the August recess) Representative Thomas Massie moved to force the House to vote to require the Justice Department to release the files, through a discharge petition. Trump and other Republicans launched a pressure campaign to prevent the release of the files, with one anonymous official calling voting for Massie's discharge petition a "very hostile act to the administration".
Within several days, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene signed the discharge petition, alongside many Democrats. Later that month, Greene tweeted: "The Epstein rape and pedophile network must be exposed. ... Release all the Epstein information by any means possible." She added that "if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out" who might be trying "to stop the information from coming out."
On September 9, the House Rules Committee rejected a motion 8âÂÂ4, from Democratic representative Jim McGovern, to request to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in the House, along party lines. The petition's final two signatures came from Democrats: James Walkinshaw, who won the Virginia 11th District special election on September 9 and was sworn in the next day, and Adelita Grijalva, who won the Arizona 7th congressional district special election on September 23 and was sworn in on November 12.
In the hours before Grijalva was sworn in, Bondi, Blanche, and FBI director Kash Patel met with Boebert regarding the House effort. However, Boebert did not remove her name from the petition, and once Grijalva was sworn in and provided the 218th signature, it was no longer procedurally allowable for any signatories to remove their names.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, had delayed Grijalva's swearing-in, generally attributing his decision to the 2025 government shutdown, arguing that the House could not swear in new members during pro forma sessions or during a government shutdown; however, some critics noted that Johnson had sworn in two Republican members, Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, during a pro forma session in April. On October 21, the Arizona attorney general, Kris Mayes, sued Johnson, seeking to force him to swear in Grijalva. That day, Johnson told Fox Business that the delay "has zero to do with Epstein", given that "the Epstein files are being released" (seemingly referring to the House Oversight Committee's releases).
On November 12, 2025, Johnson stated that the House would vote on the bill the following week (November 16âÂÂ22). In the following days, Republican representatives Don Bacon, Andy Biggs, Rob Bresnahan, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Warren Davidson, Carlos A. Giménez, Nicole Malliotakis, Max Miller, and Derrick Van Orden, none of whom signed the discharge petition, stated that they will vote in favor of the legislation. Representative MarÃÂa Elvira Salazar stated when asked that she was still "thinking" over her vote. Politico reported that, according to anonymous sources, over 100 Republicans were expected to defect from Johnson and vote for the bill. Representative Ro Khanna predicted that 40âÂÂ50 Republicans might vote for release, while Massie similarly anticipated that Republican support could "snowball", later predicting a deluge of "100 or more" Republican votes.
On November 15, Trump ordered the DOJ to investigate Epstein's involvement with banks and prominent Democratic figures, including Bill Clinton, Lawrence Summers, and Reid Hoffman. On Truth Social, Trump wrote: "This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats". Bondi subsequently assigned the investigation to U.S. attorney Jay Clayton. On November16, Massie commented on the DOJ's new investigation ordered by Trump, saying:
<blockquote>The president's been saying this is a hoax. He's been saying that for months. Well, he's just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it's a hoax... I have another concern about these investigations... If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can't be released. So, this might be a big smoke screen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them... as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.</blockquote>
Massie also added that he does not believe Trump himself is implicated in the files, but "instead is trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends, billionaires, donors to his campaign, friends in his social circles". Several hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social, reversing his stance, writing that "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files... it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax". Representative Robert Garcia commented on Trump's reversal, arguing Trump was "panicking... he is about to lose this Epstein vote to force the Department of Justice to release the files... Trump has the power to release all the files today... instead, he wants to continue this cover-up and launch bogus new investigations to deflect and slow down our investigation." Massie also responded, commenting that Trump "got tired of me winning."
On November17, Trump said that he would sign the bill, but did not want it to "take it away from us". Massie responded to Trump on Twitter, writing: "Looking forward to attending this bill signing." That day, Johnson also stated that he might support it, if it could be improved in the Senate to better protect victims' identities. Additionally, on that day, Mark Epstein, the brother of Epstein, claimed there was an active coverup to "sanitize" the files by "scrubbing the files to take Republican names out." Mark Epstein claimed he had heard as such from a "pretty good source" and it was the reason for Trump's sudden shift on releasing the files. On November18, Massie, Khanna, and Greene hosted a press conference at Capitol Hill alongside Epstein abuse survivors.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on the act on November 18, 2025, just before 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The bill was considered by the House "under a suspension of rules", meaning it required a two-thirds majority (290) vote to succeed. The vote passed 427âÂÂ1. Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican, was the lone vote against the bill, arguing that the release of the identities of innocent witnesses and family members related to the case would cause undue harm. Five representatives â Democrats Don Beyer, Greg Casar, and Mikie Sherrill; and Republicans Michael Rulli and Steve Womack â did not vote on the bill.
After passing the House, the bill would require 60 votes to pass in the U.S. Senate. That night, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill as soon as it was received from the House. The bill arrived in the Senate on November 19 and was formally transmitted from the Senate to the President's desk that morning.
Trump stated on November 17, 2025, that he would sign the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law if it reached his desk. House speaker Mike Johnson, who had previously expressed staunch opposition to the release of the files, said on November 18: "I am deeply disappointed in this outcome. ... It needed amendments, I just spoke to the president about that. We'll see what happens." A presidential veto did not occur, but it could have been overridden had both chambers voted by a two-thirds majority, which they had easily reached in the previous votes on the act. The act reached the presidential desk on the morning of November 19. A senior White House official had told reporters that "the bill will be signed whenever it gets to the White House". In the evening, the White House told reporters that Trump would not appear on camera for the rest of the day, after which Trump announced on Truth Social that he had signed the bill into law.
On November 19, Bondi said that the Department of Justice had obtained "new information" about Epstein that could potentially justify withholding the release of certain files. Her statement led to public warnings from Republican senators, including Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, and John Kennedy, who advised her to avoid withholding files. Murkowski warned Bondi that Americans will feel "duped" if files are withheld, while Tillis stated that "You can adjust for whatever investigations are going on, but if you do a blanket hold, I think that they're going to have a lot of people angry." Democratic senators also began to publicly criticize Bondi, with Peter Welch predicting that Bondi would work to conceal files. That week, Bondi also filed an expedited motion in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida for the release of grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case.
On November 26, U.S. district court judge Richard M. Berman ordered the Department of Justice to describe, by December 1, which materials it possesses and how it will protect survivors' privacy. On December 5, Judge Rodney Smith ordered the release of Florida grand jury transcripts, determining that the Epstein Files Transparency Act overrode a law prohibiting the release of grand jury materials. On December 16, Vanity Fair published a series of eleven interviews from Chris Whipple with Susie Wiles, the incumbent White House chief of staff, from the previous several months. During the interviews, Wiles stated that Trump is named in the Epstein files, but "he's not in the file doing anything awful." Wiles also described Trump as having an "alcoholic's personality", and criticized Bondi and Patel. Following the publication, Wiles criticized the article, saying that "Significant context was disregarded". When asked about the article, Trump showed his support for Wiles, describing her as "fantastic".
On December 18, Massie released an 14-minute video covering the expected release of the files, required by the following day. Massie covered what documents are legally required to be released, stated that there are "at least 20 names of men who are accused of sex crimes in the possession of the FBI", and criticized Bondi, Johnson, and Patel for their handling of the Epstein files release.
As of November 2025, reports indicated that the Department of Justice's unreleased Epstein documents consisted of nearly 100,000 pages, as well as 40 computers, 70 CDs, 26 storage drives, and six recording devices, which contain a collective 300 GB of data. According to The New Republic, physical evidence in the FBI's possession also includes "photographs, travel logs, employee lists...blueprints of Epstein's island and Manhattan home...a logbook of visitors to Epstein's private island, and a list [of names]".
On November 25, Jason Leopold of Bloomberg News began to report on the Epstein Files, after partially receiving redacted copies from the FBI; Leopold filed a FOIA request and a lawsuit against the FBI for the files. Leopold received a variety of files, mostly emails, which also revealed the existence of the "Special Redaction Project" (also internally referred to as the "Epstein Transparency Project"). Leopold claimed that between January 2025 and July 2025, FBI personnel worked 4,737 overtime hours, costing the U.S. government over $851,000, to redact files related to the Epstein investigation. On December 18, CNN reported that the Department of Justice was racing to quickly redact documents over the past several weeks, ahead of the December 19 deadline. The article reported that each attorney associated with the case was processing up to 1,000+ documents per week, and that "Counterintelligence specialists were asked to drop nearly all of their other work to process the Epstein documents."
According to the text of the law, the Department of Justice was legally required to release the Epstein files by December 19, 2025. However, the law did not establish a penalty for noncompliance. On December 19, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox & Friends there would only be a partial release of files that day. Blanche said the Department of Justice would release "today, several hundred thousand [files], and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more."
Blanche's announcement received bipartisan criticism from politicians, and was viewed as a violation of U.S. law. Republican politicians including Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene attacked the staggered rollout of the files. Massie responded to Blanche's remarks with a photograph of the law's text on X, highlighting the requirement that all files be released within 30 days; Senator Rand Paul described the partial release as a "big mistake." Democratic politicians including Chuck Schumer, Ro Khanna, Jamie Raskin, and Robert Garcia all condemned Blanche's announcement, and threatened legal action over the decision. Legal scholar Ryan Goodman also responded, writing on X that "This is a violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act."
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X that "Everyone involved will have to answer for this. Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, whole admin. Protecting a bunch of rapists and pedophiles because they have money, power, and connections. Bondi should resign tonight." Khanna stated that he was considering bringing articles of impeachment against Bondi, while Massie also suggested that Bondi could be charged with obstruction of justice, over her failure to release every file by December 19, 2025. According to CBS News, the Epstein files released on December 19 total 3,965 files, at 3 GB of data. A website called The Epstein Library went live to the public, including thousands of PDFs. The site seemed to contain a search function, though HuffPost noted it was not immediately working.
Following the December 19 release, the Department of Justice received widespread criticism for the level of redaction the released files contained. Fox News reported that the Department of Justice redacted the names of "politically exposed individuals and government officials", in violation of the law. This report was disputed by Blanche. In a letter written by Blanche, obtained by Fox News, 1,200 names of victims or relatives were redacted before the files released. On December 19, CBS News reported that among the approximately 3,900 files released, at least 550 pages of documents were entirely blacked out. One 119-page file attributed to the grand jury of New York was highlighted by Ro Khanna and Chuck Schumer for being entirely redacted.
Following the December 19 release, various news outlets began analyzing the available files. The Associated Press wrote in their analysis of the files that "the mere inclusion of someone's name or images in files from the investigation does not imply [wrongdoing]." The Associated Press reported that the files contained several photographs of former U.S. president Bill Clinton in a private plane and a hot-tub. The New York Times reported that Trump appeared only a small number of times in the released files, with the documents instead appearing to focus heavily on Clinton. The release also included photographs of Epstein with a variety of celebrities and public figures including Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Walter Cronkite, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, David Copperfield, Peter Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson, Richard Branson, David Brooks, David Blaine, Woody Allen, and Ehud Barak.
Included was a 2003 press photo of Michael Jackson with Bill Clinton, Diana Ross, and their children â Evan Ross, Paris Jackson, and Michael "Prince" Jackson Jr. â the latter's faces redacted. Evan Ross confirmed himself and the Jackson children as in the photo. Social media users criticized the photo's redactions as unnecessary, and argued it intended to imply Ross and the Jackson children were victims and their parents questionable. White House press secretary Abigail Jackson (no relation) defended the redaction on the ground the photo featured minors.
Within a day of the release, over a dozen files were removed from the justice.gov website with no public notice or explanation, including a photo showing a picture of Trump, Epstein, and Maxwell together. It had the filename "EFTA00000468". Schumer highlighted that file's removal, stating; "if they're taking this down, just imagine how much more they're trying to hide... This could be one of the biggest cover ups in American history." On December 21, the Department of Justice said that out of "an abundance of caution", the Trump photo was "temporarily removed... for further review"; the photo was restored to the website later that day.
At around midnight, on December 20, the Department of Justice released some additional files containing grand jury materials, as well as flight logs with redacted names. These also included a 32-page slide presentation from 2019, as well as a FBI agent's testimony to a grand jury in 2019.
On December 22, an additional 11,034 documents were released by the Department of Justice. Within hours, the public discovered that many redactions could be easily bypassed with software like Photoshop or other basic editing tools, or by copy-pasting the seemingly redacted material to reveal the underlying text. The redacted portions were found to contain significant findings as to the members and techniques of Epstein's trafficking ring, rather than only redacting the personal information of victims as permitted by the Transparency Act.
On December 23, nearly 30,000 additional files were released by the Department of Justice. With their release, the Department of Justice issued a statement claiming that "untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false". Unlike the first document release, which mentions Trump in very few instances, the December 23 release mentions Trump more frequently. One case file included a direct rape allegation against Trump. An included 2020 email stated Trump had flown with Epstein "many more times than previously has been reported"; with Trump listed as a passenger on at least eight flights on Epstein's private jet, between 1993 and 1996.
A purported postcard from Epstein to Larry Nassar was also released, dated August 13, 2019; Epstein died on August 10, 2019, three days before the letter was postmarked. Additionally, the letter's envelope contained a postmark from North Virginia, while Epstein was incarcerated in Manhattan. In the letter, Epstein allegedly wrote: "Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls ... When a young beauty walked by, he loved to 'grab snatch,' ... Life is unfair". The Department of Justice called the letter "fake", following FBI analysis, and stated it released it due to that being required by law. The existence of the letter had first been reported in 2023 by the Associated Press. Another document released showed the letter underwent a handwriting-analysis at the FBI in 2020. Margaret Hartman of New York commented on the letter, writing "there is significant reason to doubt its legitimacy...It wouldnâÂÂt have been hard for someone to write this letter as a sick joke".
Additionally, a released document contained an unverified FBI tip, from an unnamed woman in New Mexico. The woman submitted an online tip to the FBI in August 2020, shortly before the 2020 election. The woman alleged that in 1984, she was sex trafficked by her uncle and Epstein, while pregnant at the age of thirteen. She additionally alleged that her child was killed shortly after being born in 1984, and that Trump was present for the disposal of the infant's body within Lake Michigan. Snopes has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the accusation, noting that "the information [does] not line up with the established timeline of Trump's friendship with Epstein." Snopes noted that the woman alleged that the incident occurred in 1984 while Trump and Epstein did not meet until years later in the late 1980s; additionally, there is no evidence or documentation of Trump or Epstein having ties to the town.
Axios reported on December 24 that there were 700,000 files remaining which were expected to be released by December 30. Later that day, other outlets reported the Justice Department had yet to internally review and redact over a million files and said it "may take a few more weeks" to release them as it sought U.S. attorneys to volunteer over Christmas to remotely do this work. On December 30, The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice was reviewing as many as 5.2 million files. On January 5, the Department of Justice said in a court filing that it had reviewed "12,285 documents (comprising 125,575 pages)" but had yet to review at least 2 million documents. The letter also referenced an additional report, which separately suggested more than 5 million documents could be under review.
In early January 2026, less than 1% of the files were publicly released according to a DOJ letter sent to U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer. On January 8, 2026, Khanna and Massie wrote to Judge Engelmayer, "to suggest the appointment of a Special Master and Independent Monitor" so as to force the Justice Department to produce the remaining files. On January 16, Bondi and Blanche filed a six-page letter to Engelmayer, asking him to deny the Special Master request. On January 21, Engelmayer denied the special master request.
On January 30, 2026, the U.S. Justice Department released 3.5 million documents, with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also alleging that these documents were the last remaining documents that had yet to be made public. According to Blanche, the release of these files brought the U.S. Department of Justice in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Unlike previous releases, the Justice Department's webpage for the fifth release cannot be accessed until visitors agree they are at least 18 years old due to the inclusion of pornography within the released files. A document from the release, titled EFTA01660679, appeared to be removed, but was reportedly restored after a period of overload.
Files unveiled in the January 30 release entail a variety of images, reports, documents, emails, and claims including:
Additional information revealed in the files include:
A group of Epstein victims issued a statement criticizing the release's partial failure to redact or hide the names of some victims, writing, "As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized while Epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy." A review from The Wall Street Journal found the names of 43 out of 47 victims in the files left unredacted. The Department of Justice later announced that it removed approximately 9,500 documents which contained victim information; they stated that the files would be restored after additional redactions are made.
Following the release of the Epstein files, misinformation and disinformation related to the files spread on social media. One false rumor included skateboarder Tony Hawk, after a 2024 email from an FBI agent within the files stated "[Redacted] said that she was there when Prince Edward was there and when Tony Hawk got married on the island." Hawk disputed this rumor as "a narrative of nonsense", while sharing the four locations he has gotten married. AI-generated images also spread across social media, including one fictitious image of a young Zohran Mamdani with Epstein. Another included a fake image of Epstein with Nigel Farage, which was shared by the Wrexham Labour Party. Farage responded to the post, stating "I never met Epstein and I didn't go to the island"; while a spokesman for Reform UK described the post as "vile misinformation and smear". The Labour Party later deleted the post.
U.S. Representative Ro Khanna expressed skepticism of Blanche's claim, noting that the U.S. Department of Justice had in fact "identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages." On February 1, 2026, Khanna repeated threats to charge Bondi with contempt of congress. Representative Thomas Massie responded to earlier criticism and efforts to stop the files' release, writing on X, "It was not a hoax, I cannot be bullied, I am not done, and this is why those in power are doing everything in their power to defeat me." U.S. President Donald Trump argued that the final file release "absolves" him of any wrongdoing, despite his name appearing over 3,000 times in the files. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that Mountbatten-Windsor should testify before U.S. Congress due to his presence within the files. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre agreed with Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway's statement that she had "poor judgement", following further light on her association with Epstein. Støre similarly criticized former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland.
On February 6, 2026, news outlets reported that Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote a letter to all 535 members of Congress. Davis stated that beginning February 9, lawmakers would be allowed to view unredacted Epstein files, in a reading room at the Department of Justice. Congressional lawmakers are permitted to take notes on the files, but may not bring electronic devices with them. On February 8, Massie asked users on X to identify important redacted documents that he should view first.
On February 9, 2026, Massie and Khanna spoke to the press after their first reviewing of unredacted files at the Department of Justice. The pair criticized Bondi and the Department of Justice, accusing the latter of "breaking the law". On February 10, 2026, Khanna read the names of six men on the House floor, who appeared in the unredacted Epstein files. Khanna said that the six men are "likely incriminated" by their inclusion. By reading the names during a House session, Khanna and Massie are offered some degree of protection against potential defamation lawsuits. The six names included Leslie Wexner, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, and Nicola Caputo. On February 13, Todd Blanche claimed in response to Khanna that the latter named "completely random people" that "have NOTHING to do with Epstein or Maxwell". Blanche stated that only Wexner and bin Sulayem held ties to Epstein, while the other four were an "unmasking of completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup- men and women." Khanna subsequently admitted his mistake, while placing blame on the Department of Justice. Khanna stated, "I wish DoJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting then unredacting their names. They have failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers." Massie also criticized Blanche, saying "Maybe you should have checked with your folks first, or provided some context, instead of trying to beat my TV appearance and then blaming us."
On February 9, 2026, Sen. Cynthia Lummis said that after reviewing unredacted files, "now I see what the big deal is. And the members of Congress that have been pushing this were not wrong." That day, Representative Jamie Raskin also accused the Department of Justice of a coverup, after viewing some unredacted files. Raskin also claimed "[TrumpâÂÂs] name, I think I put his name ... it appears more than a million times." On February 10, 2026, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam gave an interview to NPR, where he discussed viewing unredacted files. That day, Rep. Jared Moskowitz described the content of the files as "just gross". Moskowitz also stated that a list of Epstein's co-conspirators "would surprise (the public), because a lot of them were women". That day, House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that he intended to view unredacted files at a later date, while also defending the Department of Justice. On February 11, 2026, Rep. Maxwell Frost viewed unredacted documents, after asking Reddit users to help identify ones of interest. Frost stated that he only "scratched the tip of the iceberg", but that a "lot of these did relate to Donald Trump."
Following the fifth file release, Howard Lutnick and Pam Bondi both testified before U.S. congress. Lutnick was questioned on his ties to Epstein, which he defended as limited. During Bondi's hearing, she faced bipartisan criticism over the Department of Justice's release of the files. Massie described the issue as "bigger than Watergate".
During the hearing, Bondi was also photographed with a document titled "Jayapal Pramila Search History". Congressional members expressed bipartisan outrage over the incident, accusing Bondi and the Department of Justice of spying on their search history of unredacted Epstein files. Rep. Jayapal described it as "outrageous", while Rep. Raskin called it an "outrageous abuse of power". Rep. Nancy Mace called the document "disturbing...a form of intimidation, potentially", while House Speaker Johnson described it as inappropriate. The department subsequently acknowledged the incident, stating that the "DOJ logs all searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information." On February 13, 2026, House Democrats launched an investigation into the department, over the tracking of congressional file searches.
On February 14, 2026, Bondi sent a six-page letter to congress, outlining the department's justification for redactions made in the Epstein files (as legally required). In the letter, Bondi also included a list of "all persons...[named] in the files released under the Act at least once...in a wide variety of contexts." The list included both individuals with direct ties to Epstein, as well as individuals mentioned only in passing once. The list included approximately 340 names.
Following the release of Bondi's report, Rep. Khanna accused Bondi of "purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email." On X, Khanna wrote, "To have Janis Joplin, who died when Epstein was 17, in the same list as Larry Nassar, who went to prison for the sexual abuse of hundreds of young women and child pornography, with no clarification of how either was mentioned in the files is absurd." Rep. Mace attacked the report for "missing names", and wrote on X that "This isnâÂÂt going away until people go to jail."
On March 4, 2026, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Bondi to testify about how the Justice Department handled the investigation of Epstein and the release of the files. The subpoena was issued on March 17; she is to sit for a deposition on April 14.
On March 5, 2026, the Department of Justice released an additional 16 pages of files, which were previously withheld. The Department claimed the files were improperly withheld due to being "incorrectly coded as duplicative". The files contained three 2019 FBI interview summaries with a woman, who gave uncorroborated accusations that Trump sexually abused her as a minor in the 1980's.
Following the release, NPR reported that per their investigation, there still appears to be an additional 37 files missing from the department's public database.
In an opinion article in The Hill, journalist and attorney Chris Traux argued that the Epstein files were "a political albatross hanging around [Trump's] neck", while being Trump's equivalent of the Hillary Clinton email controversy. Traux also argued that the bill's overwhelming success in Congress showcased the weakened influence of Trump's political power. Contributor A. Scott Bolden similarly argued in The Hill that Trump's initial opposition to the bill proved to be a failure, while arguing that Bondi's new investigations were Trump's eleventh-hour attempt to withhold select files. Contributor John Mac Ghlionn also argued in The Hill that Trump's initial failure to release the Epstein Files could "destroy whatever legacy he hoped to leave behind", and is partially responsible for the increasing popularity of far-right commentator Nick Fuentes, a critic of Trump.
Journalist Harrison Berger in The American Conservative argued that the bill granted too much power to Bondi to redact content while releasing the Epstein files. Berger argued that the Trump administration would likely abuse the bill's provision in order to hide Epstein's political and foreign ties. For example, Berger pointed to Drop Site News report that Epstein worked on Israel's behalf with Ehud Barak during the Syrian civil war in order to help remove Bashar al-Assad from power.
Following the files' release, contributor Robby Soave argued in The Hill that the releases had led to association fallacy among the general public. Soave praised Massie's "sincere effort to arrive at the truth", while also arguing that many of Epstein's minor associates likely had no knowledge of his crimes, and were being unfairly punished in the court of public opinion.
Attorney Daniel Richman argued in The New York Times that "The Epstein Files Should Never Have Been Released"; Richman argued that the files' release was ultimately a result of the justice system's failure to prosecute Epstein's associates.
A September 2025 Marist Poll, surveying 1,477 adult Americans, found that 90% of Americans answered that they wanted at least some of the Epstein files released, with the victims' names redacted. Among these surveyed, 77% stated that they wanted all of the Epstein files to be released, 13% wanted some of the files released, and 9% were opposed. Additionally, 84% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and 83% of independents answered that they wanted all of the Epstein files to be released.
A December 2025 Economist/YouGov poll, surveying 1,591 Americans, found that 55% of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the Epstein investigation, while only 26% approved. Additionally, the poll found that 91% of Democrats, 78% of Independents, and 74% of Republicans supported releasing the Epstein files.
A January 2026 Economist/YouGov poll, surveying 1,546 Americans, found that 56% of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the files, while 25% approved. Additionally, 49% of Americans answered that Trump is attempting to cover up Epstein's crimes, while 30% answered that he is not. A January 2026 CNN poll, surveying 1,209 adult Americans, found that only 6% said they're satisfied with what the federal government had so far released. Nearly half of Republicans, three-quarters of independents, and 9 in 10 Democrats said the government was withholding information.