Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday that Pam Bondi’s DOJ will not release “several hundred thousand” Epstein-related documents by the deadline set under a new transparency law, even as he said the department plans to publish a large initial tranche of records.
“So today is the 30 days when I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today,” Blanche told Fox News on Friday, continuing: “And just so everybody appreciates, President Trump has said, for years, that he wants full transparency, and he wants the Department of Justice to release everything that we can with respect to this investigation in cases.”
Blanche said the department’s review process is focused on protecting victims’ identities and personal details, a process he described as requiring line-by-line checks before documents are made public.
“And so what we’re doing is we are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story, to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected,” he added.
Blanche also said the public should expect more releases after Friday’s drop. “And so I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks. So today, several hundred thousand. And then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” he said.
A law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump requires “all” Epstein files possessed by the DOJ to be released TODAY.
Instead, Deputy AG Todd Blanche says some files will be released “over the next couple of weeks.”
This is unacceptable. End the coverup now. pic.twitter.com/ptzU8i1nRf
— Demand Progress (@demandprogress) December 19, 2025
The comments come as the Department of Justice faces a statutory deadline tied to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation signed into law in November that requires the attorney general to release DOJ records related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days of enactment, subject to limited exceptions. The deadline falls on Friday, setting up a dispute over whether a rolling release schedule satisfies the law’s requirements.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act was approved after a rare show of bipartisan support on Capitol Hill after relentless pressure from the public. With lawmakers pushing for the release of federal records tied to Epstein’s criminal investigations, the legislation directed DOJ to make public unclassified documents and records in its possession related to Epstein, while allowing redactions in some circumstances, including protecting the identities of victims.
Friday’s developments also follow public warnings from lawmakers who have argued that releasing only part of the record could violate the statute’s terms. In statements earlier this week, members of Congress said they expected the Justice Department to meet the deadline and to limit redactions to legally necessary protections.
The Justice Department has not publicly released a detailed inventory of what will be included in Friday’s publication, or how many pages, exhibits, and other materials remain under review. Blanche’s comments suggest that the department expects multiple tranches over the coming weeks, with additional batches of documents to follow.
The release is expected to include records that span federal investigations into Epstein, the financier who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The case never died down as details about Epstein’s network of wealthy and powerful associates continued to leak over time.
Epstein’s death sparked more conspiracy theories as many believe he did not kill himself due to the missing time in the surveillance footage and potentially powerful individuals who will want to keep him silent.
Friday’s release is expected to be one of the largest disclosures to date from federal holdings tied to Epstein.
