During the 2024 election, President Trump promised to release the Epstein files as part of a campaign message arguing the government was run by powerful people hiding the truth from Americans.
At the start of 2026, many people agree — and believe that he is now one of the powerful few keeping the public in the dark.
In the two weeks since the Justice Department failed to fully meet a legal deadline to release its expansive tranche of files on Jeffrey Epstein, old conspiracy theories about his life and death have subsided and new ones have taken shape. The late financier was a convicted sex offender and accused of sex trafficking minors while associating with top figures in politics, academia and other influential industries.
Both supporters of the president and his opponents have criticized the rollout of documents, often heavily redacted and shared without any clear organization or context. Included in the roughly 40,000 pages of new information published in the last week are unvetted tips from the public — and a complaint made to the FBI more than a decade before Epstein was first criminally charged.
There could be well over a million files still unreleased, along with potentially terabytes-worth of data seized from Epstein's devices and estate, according to 2020 emails between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York included in the most recent batch of files.
On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on social media that lawyers were working "around the clock" to review documents but did not specify the scope or scale of the remaining work.
"It truly is an all-hands-on-deck approach and we're asking as many lawyers as possible to commit their time to review the documents that remain," Blanche said. "Required redactions to protect victims take time but they will not stop these materials from being released. The Attorney General's and this Administration's goal is simple: transparency and protecting victims."
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is threatening to take action against the Justice Department for failing to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in November, but the law itself contains no penalties or enforcement mechanism.
Politically, the Epstein files saga caps off a rocky first year for an administration facing record-low favorability ratings and a president whose grasp on his base is appearing to slip. Trump spent most of 2025 downplaying the significance of the files, at times lashing out against Republicans who demanded the release of information about other potential perpetrators.
Congress' demands to release the files are unusual
The Epstein Files Transparency Act gave a deadline of Dec. 19 for the disclosure of "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices."
Congress gave limited exemptions for redacting and withholding files, including identifying information, photos and videos of victims, child sexual abuse materials and images that depict death, physical abuse or injury.
The law also allows the attorney general to withhold or redact anything classified "in the interest of national defense or foreign policy" or details that would "jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary."
It is highly unusual for federal law enforcement to release the entirety of its investigative file for a case, even one that has garnered heavy public interest — let alone be directed to do so by Congress.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, for example, is a 16-page law that set out a 25-year timeline for the release of records related to his assassination, and established a review board to identify relevant records with explicit guidelines and directions. Similarly, the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act of 1998 and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000 set out a process for evaluating and releasing more than 8.5 million pages.
More recently, presidents have used executive orders to release files related to high-profile events. Former President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 leading the FBI and DOJ to declassify and release roughly 4,000 files related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Trump's January 2025 executive orders related to the assassinations of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. led to the release of close to 400,000 pages.
The 2025 Epstein law is less detailed in its requests and does not provide any additional funding for the Justice Department to complete the process of reviewing and releasing the files.
What we know about the files made public
The vast majority of the roughly 250,000 documents that are now available about Epstein are from public court dockets, Freedom of Information Act requests from state and federal agencies, and records turned over to the House Oversight Committee by Epstein's estate.
That includes communications between Epstein and a vast web of influential figures in politics, academia, business and more, even after he registered as a sex offender.
Trump, who had a decades-long friendship with Epstein before a falling out in the early 2000s, is mentioned frequently in both old and new Epstein files by Epstein himself. Trump has not been credibly accused of wrongdoing in connection to Epstein's alleged crimes.
In one newly released email from 2020, a prosecutor whose name is redacted flags that "Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware)." At the same time, Epstein's own emails reveal a near-obsession with Trump's presidency and mock his time in office.
One email sent by federal agents after Epstein was arrested in 2019 for allegedly sex-trafficking minors mentioned 10 possible co-conspirators, including Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for sex-trafficking minors and other charges. Most of the other names on that list are redacted.
Some emails released in the files detail challenges that federal prosecutors faced obtaining, processing and organizing more than a million documents taken from Epstein's estates, as well as more than 60 devices and other evidence accumulated in the investigation into Epstein and Maxwell.
What we don't know about the remaining files
The Justice Department hasn't indicated how many files remain, how many will be released or whether any information it does release will be factually accurate.
Some of the investigative files released in the last two weeks include unverified fantastical claims about Trump, Epstein and others, including a fake video purporting to show Epstein's death by suicide in his federal prison cell. There was also a forged letter that appeared to be from Epstein to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar that alleged Trump shared a "love of young, nubile girls."
The Justice Department posted on social media last week that the Nassar letter was fake, citing inconsistencies with handwriting and other aspects of its construction.
"This fake letter serves as a reminder that just because a document is released by the Department of Justice does not make the allegations or claims within the document factual," the DOJ X account stated.
Before the president's second term, Trump and top allies like now-FBI Director Kash Patel amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein and his death, which were embraced by their supporters.
Trump's about-face on releasing the files and the trickle of information have spawned new conspiracy theories by some Trump opponents who have seized on salacious and unverified claims released in the document dump. Others have shared previously published redacted court filings out of context to claim that the administration is doctoring files to benefit Trump.
There are also several types of files that lawmakers and victims of Epstein's abuse say exist and should be made public. California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said on NPR's All Things Considered last week that FBI witness interviews are among those he is looking for.
"I know from survivors and survivors' lawyers that when they had these conversations with FBI agents, they specifically named other men who they were trafficked to or who showed up at the island or who covered up for this abuse," Khanna said. "There were lawyers of the survivors present there. There are dozens of these interview memorandums. The DOJ has not released a single one."
What's next in the Epstein saga?
It's unclear what steps Congress may take to try to compel faster or more complete production of files from the Justice Department, or if Khanna and others follow through on proposed "inherent contempt" proceedings against Attorney General Pam Bondi. Lawmakers have been on recess for the holidays and return to Washington next week.
Trump himself continues to fan the flames, including in a Dec. 26 Truth Social post where he appeared to suggest the Justice Department should focus on releasing names of Democrats mentioned in the files and move on.
"When do they say NO MORE, and work on Election Fraud etc.," Trump wrote. "The Dems are the ones who worked with Epstein, not the Republicans. Release all of their names, embarrass them, and get back to helping our Country! The Radical Left doesn't want people talking about TRUMP & REPUBLICAN SUCCESS, only a long ago dead Jeffrey Epstein - Just another Witch Hunt!!!"
But the dump of files is expected to continue, as the tail of the political fallout grows longer heading into the 2026 midterm elections in November. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is set to resign from the House Jan. 5 after Trump repeatedly attacked her over her lobbying to release the files, shrinking an already-tenuous majority for House Republicans.
Have information or evidence to share about the Epstein files and the Department of Justice's release of documents? Reach out to the author, Stephen Fowler, through encrypted communications on Signal at stphnfwlr.25.
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