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Justice Department expands its review of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to 5.2 million because it also increases the number of lawyers trying to comply with a law that mandates the release of files, according to a person informed in a letter sent to US Attorneys.
The number is the latest estimate of expanding review of case files of Epstein and his longtime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell that ran more than a week past the deadline set by Congressional legislation.
The Justice Department has more than 400 lawyers working on the review, but does not expect to release more documents until Jan. 20 or 21, according to the person briefed on the letter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.
The White House did not dispute the numbers laid out in the email, and pointed to a statement from Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, who said the administration’s review was an “all-hands-on-deck approach.”
Blanche said Wednesday that attorneys from the Justice Department in Washington, the FBI, the southern district of Florida, and the Southern District of New York were working “around the clock” to review the files. Additional documents and attorneys related to the case were first reported by The New York Times.
“We are asking as many attorneys as possible to commit their time to reviewing the documents that remain,” Blanche said. “The necessary redactions to protect victims will take time but they will not prevent these materials from being released.”
Still, Attorney General Pam Bondi faced pressure from Congress after the Justice Department’s release of information was delayed by a December 19 deadline to release the information.
“Should Attorney General Pam Bondi be impeached?” Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who helped lead the effort to pass legislation mandating the release of the document, asked on social media this week.
Democrats are also exploring their legal options as they continue to take on an issue that has caused rifts in the Republican Party and sometimes President Donald Trump’s administration is confused.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said on social media that the latest figures from the Department of Justice “show that Bondi, Blanche, and others at the DOJ have lied to the American people about the Epstein files since day one” and pointed out that the documents released so far represent a fraction of the total.
