Over a million more potential Epstein documents have been handed over to the Department of Justice for review and possible release, the DOJ said Wednesday.
Why it matters: The announcement mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve comes as the DOJ faces scrutiny for not releasing all records related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before a Dec. 19 congressionally mandated deadline that President Trump signed into law.
- The Justice Department has still released thousands of documents related to Epstein, often heavily redacted. Some of them mention Trump, though he has never been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
- It was only on Tuesday night that Trump administration officials told Axios there were about 700,000 documents left, and they expected to be done with the Epstein releases within a week.
Driving the news: "The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have informed the Department of Justice that they have uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case," the DOJ wrote on X.
- "The DOJ has received these documents from SDNY and the FBI to review them for release, in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, existing statutes, and judicial orders."
- "We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible."
Yes, but: The review process could take "a few more weeks" due to "the mass volume of material," the Justice Department said.
The intrigue: The statement did not explain how officials found the additional material.
What they're saying: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a Wednesday afternoon statement in response to the DOJ announcement: "Every day we see lies, incompetence, missed deadlines, and illegal redactions."
Between the lines: The DOJ is legally compelled to release documents related to Epstein, who had ties to many of the world's elite power brokers and who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Go deeper: The Epstein files are out. Here is what's in them and what's still missing
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Rep. Robert Garcia and with context on the congressional deadline.
