By Morgan Sweeney | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Justice Department is required to make all of the Epstein files public by Friday, after months of back-and-forth between Congress and the Trump administration.
On Nov. 18, with almost unanimous support, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law the next day. The law demands the department’s full release of the files into a downloadable, searchable PDF format within 30 days of its signing.
The files include thousands of pages from two criminal investigations into the deceased financier and sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. In December, two judges also unsealed grand jury records from sex trafficking cases against Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Congress and the administration have been at odds for months, after Attorney General Pam Bondi signaled that large quantities of files were going to be made public and then a Justice Department memo in July abruptly ended their release. The memo said that investigators had found “no incriminating ‘client list’ and “no credible evidence…. that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Congress launched its own oversight inquiry into the handling of the Epstein files, through which a handful of news-making files have come to light – like an alleged bawdy 50th birthday letter from Trump to Epstein, which Trump denies sending; Epstein emails calling Trump “the dog that hasn’t barked,” and some photos of the president and other public figures at events with Epstein or multiple women.
One of those public figures was former President Bill Clinton. The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify before the committee on Dec. 17 and 18, but those depositions were pushed back Tuesday to mid-January.
Democrats held a press conference Tuesday saying they expect the administration to only partially comply with the law on Friday, but that there would be consequences for anything less than full compliance.
“We fully expect Trump, Bondi and their minions to dodge, delay or partially release these files,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY. “Stop hiding, stop delaying. Come clean with the American people. And if you don’t, the question will only get louder and louder and louder.”
“If they abuse narrow exemptions to hide the truth, we will know and there will be serious legal and political consequences,” Schumer warned.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also said the Treasury Department has numerous files on Epstein transactions and financial operations that could hold important information, but that the Trump administration won’t release those. The Nov. 19 law only requires that the Department of Justice hand over its files.
“My investigators saw a large, large portion of these records in 2024, under the Biden administration, but the Trump administration is denying us the file today. It’s important for the American people to find out how all of this was financed, and that means getting our hands on the file to investigate further,” Wyden said.
Though called to release all of its files by Friday, the Justice Department can withhold or redact records that needlessly expose victims’ identity, show the sexual abuse of children or pertain to an active federal investigation.