Epstein Files Release Remains in Limbo as Bondi Misses Legal Deadline by Over a Month
Attorney General Pam Bondi has once again failed to provide a concrete release date for the long-awaited Jeffrey Epstein files, more than a month after the statutory deadline of 19 December 2025 passed without compliance. In a recent court filing, Bondi, alongside Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, informed federal judges that the Department of Justice could not "provide a specific date" for when their review of the materials would be complete.
Justice Department Insists on 'Near Term' Release Despite Minimal Progress
The Department of Justice continues to insist that the Epstein files will be released "in the near term," despite having made only a fraction of the documents public to date. Earlier this month, officials revealed that just 12,285 documents—representing less than 1% of the total cache—have been released, with over 2 million documents still undergoing review. This massive trove includes documents, audio recordings, videos, and photographs related to Epstein's activities, amounting to more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence according to an FBI review conducted in July last year.
Scale of Review Process Reveals Monumental Task
Tuesday's court filing underscores the enormous scale of the task facing the Department of Justice. "The Department has reviewed and redacted, as appropriate, several millions of pages of materials identified in the files," the document states, while cautioning that "ongoing processes, including quality control checks and document management system preparations, may require additional efforts to ensure the protection of victim-identifying information."
The manual review process is already engaging "hundreds of Department attorneys, agents and others," with almost all 200 lawyers in the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York reportedly pulled into the effort. According to a recent New York Times report, even prosecutors working on high-profile cases—including that against ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro—have been instructed to shift their focus to the Epstein document review.
Public Frustration Mounts Over Delayed Transparency
Public dissatisfaction with the pace of releases is growing significantly. A CNN poll conducted between 9–12 January found that few Americans are satisfied with the amount of evidence released from the Epstein files, with most respondents believing the government is intentionally holding back information. Only 16% of those surveyed said the Justice Department under Bondi was working to release all possible information.
The legislation mandating the release of these files was passed almost unanimously in November, ordering the department to make documents public by 19 December 2025 with appropriate redactions to protect victims' identities. Representatives Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican—who successfully led the congressional effort to pass the legislation—have accused the Department of Justice of committing a "flagrant violation" of the law by failing to meet the December deadline.
Questions Remain About Realistic Timelines
Given the sluggish pace of releases so far and the monumental scale of the remaining review work, serious questions are being raised about whether Bondi's expectation to complete release of all materials "in the near term" is realistic. The nature of the "additional efforts" required remains unclear, but the sheer volume of documents and the need for meticulous redaction to protect victims suggest the process could extend well beyond current projections.
As the delay continues, pressure mounts on the Justice Department to provide greater transparency about their review process and establish a credible timeline for the complete release of these historically significant files related to one of the most notorious child sex offenders in recent memory.
