The Justice Department says it has now released “all” files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, according to a letter sent Saturday night by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The letter claims the DOJ has met its obligations under the Epstein Transparency Act and explains why certain parts of the records were redacted.
“In accordance with the requirements of the Act, and as described in various Department submissions to the courts of the Southern District of New York assigned to the Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell prosecutions and related orders, the Department released all ‘records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession of the Department’ that ‘relate to’ [Epstein],” the letter said.
What is instantly grabbing attention is the letter’s long list of government officials and “politically exposed persons” whose names appear in the released files. That list included President Donald Trump, ex-President Joe Biden, Tucker Carlson, Bruce Springsteen, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, California Sen. Adam Schiff (D), Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Barbra Streisand, ex-Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama, among many others.
The DOJ made a point of saying that appearing in the documents does not automatically mean wrongdoing.
“Names appear in the files released under the Act in a wide variety of contexts,” the letter noted. “For example, some individuals had extensive direct email contact with Epstein or Maxwell, while other individuals are mentioned only in a portion of a document (including press reporting) that on its face is unrelated to the Epstein or Maxwell matters.”
The letter also insisted the government did not hold back information for political reasons.
“No records were withheld or redacted ‘on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.’”
Politico senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein shared the letter on X; you can read the full six-page document by clicking here.
It was addressed to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
The DOJ said it worked “in consultation with victim counsel and victims directly” when deciding what to redact, including “personally indentifiable information of victim or victims’ personal and medical files,” which the letter said “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
The letter arrives after Bondi faced sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). During a recent hearing, Raskin accused her of “ignoring” victims and leading a “massive Epstein cover-up.”
“You replace real prosecutors with counterfeit stooges who robotically do the president’s bidding,” Raskin said. “Nothing in American history comes close to this complete corruption of the justice function and contamination of federal law enforcement.”
Bondi fired back by calling Raskin a “washed-up, loser lawyer” and a political failure.
The letter also follows the DOJ’s release of 3.5 million Epstein files at the end of January, which Trump claimed “absolve” him of wrongdoing.
Other names mentioned include Massie, George Clooney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Jared Kushner, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Elon Musk, ex-Vice President Mike Pence, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), California Rep. Eric Swalwell (D), Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former President Bill Clinton, and former Attorney General Eric Holder.