The administration is still reviewing more than 2 million documents related to Jeffrey Epstein to see whether they should be released, government lawyers told a judge late Monday.
That’s the universe of documents that have yet to be released and are “potentially responsive” to the new law requiring disclosure. The government said they are “in various phases of review.”
Government lawyers also admitted they’ve made some mistakes in releasing identifying information about victims of Epstein, a convicted sex offender who was facing a new trial on sex trafficking charges when he killed himself.
They said they’ve gone back and made new redactions at the request of victims and their lawyers, and they are working with victims to figure out what to do about documents that were already released with identifying information.
“The department remains committed to providing as much protection to the privacy interests of victims and their relatives as is practicable,” Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, told U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act had required all files related to the disgraced billionaire to be released by Dec. 19.
As of Monday, Mr. Clayton said, 12,285 documents totaling 125,575 pages have been posted to the Justice Department’s Epstein Library webpage. That’s dwarfed by the documents still to be reviewed.
The additional documents include emails, interview notes, prison files, court filings and drafts, and “various forms or media.”
A “meaningful portion” of the 2 million files under review are likely to be duplicates, the Justice Department lawyers told the judge.
“The department’s identification and collection efforts span various federal agencies and U.S. attorneys’ offices, many with separate record keeping systems, policies and procedures,” the government said in explaining why it is still not sure what documents it has.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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