U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019.
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services | Handout | Reuters
The Department of Justice on Friday released some — but not all — of its investigative files about Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex predator.
The release came on the deadline set by the recently signed Epstein Files Transparency Act for the DOJ to release all of the files.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who led the effort that forced a vote on the bill that became that law, said that the DOJ’s production of the files “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law.”
The DOJ’s website features a new page titled “Epstein Library,” which has a search box to look for keywords in the newly released files.
The material included hundreds of photographs, some of which featured Epstein and his former girlfriend and convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as images that appeared to show parts of his home and other locations.
Epstein died in a jailhouse suicide in 2019. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term for crimes related to her procuring underage girls for him to sexually abuse.
It was not immediately clear how much of the released material was not previously publicly available through other sources.
The search box did not immediately appear to work, as searches for words including “Epstein” generated a message saying: “No results found. Please try a different search.”
“This site houses materials responsive under the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” the site says. “This site will be updated if additional documents are identified for release.”
In a letter to members of Congress detailing the partial release, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the material included evidence collected in a 2018 criminal probe of Epstein by the FBI; a 2019 probe of Maxwell; “the FBI Miami investigative file for the 2006 Epstein criminal case for child prostitution; the FBI Miami, the FBI New York investigative file for the 2019 Epstein death investigation;” as well as court records from civil and criminal cases involving Epstein, Maxwell and the Epstein estate.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Friday that Congress could hold impeachment hearings about Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche if the released documents do not meet the law’s requirements.
“What we need is a clear timeline of when the rest of the documents will be released and an explanation for why they did not release all of them today,” Khanna said at a press conference after the DOJ posted the documents.
Several photos showed former President Bill Clinton, including one featuring a smiling Clinton with a young woman wearing a white tank top perched on the arm of his chair. Her arm is draped over his shoulder, and his left hand rests near her hip.
Photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department showing Bill Clinton with an unknown woman. Image is redacted by the U.S. Justice Department. Date and context unclear.
Department of Justice.
Another photo shows what appears to be shirtless Clinton sitting in a hot tub, his hands clasped behind his head. A third photo features Clinton and Epstein wearing shiny dress shirts.
It was not clear when any of the photos were taken or their locations. CNBC did not alter the photos.
Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
His spokesman, Angel Urena, more than six years ago said, “President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”
On Friday, Urena responded to the files being released with a post on X.
“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton,” Urena wrote. “This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want but this isn’t about Bill Clinton.”
“There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light,” Urena said. ” The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”
In a 1997 photo, Jeffrey Epstein, left, and Donald Trump pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Among the documents released Friday was an address book, which included a listing for President Donald Trump, who had been a friend of Epstein’s for years before they had falling out in the early 2000s. The address book appears to be identical or substantially similar to an address book of Epstein’s that was previously made public.
Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has denied being aware of Epstein’s serial sexual abuse of underage girls and women.
The released files were notably light on images showing Trump, in contrast to the multiple images of Clinton. Trump is seen in images recently released by congressional Democrats after they were obtained from Epstein’s estate.
One photo that was released by the DOJ on Friday shows an array of photos and other items. Trump’s face can be seen in an image that is among those photos.
Photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department shows
U.S. Department of Justice
Blanche, the deputy attorney general, earlier Friday told Fox News, “I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today.”
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand, and then over the next couple weeks,” Blanche said. “I expect several hundred thousand more.”
Blanche said the DOJ was reviewing each file to redact names and identities of Epstein’s victims.
Photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department showing Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein. Date and context is unclear.
U.S. Department of Justice
“There’s a lot of eyes looking at these, and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials that we’re producing, that we’re protecting every single victim,” he said.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in a statement, said, “The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history.”
“By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have.”
“And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender,” Jackson said. “The American people deserve answers.”
Photo from the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department shows Bill Clinton in a hot tub with an unknown person. Image redacted by the U.S. Justice Department. Date and context is unclear.
U.S. Department of Justice
Democrats in Congress slammed the partial release plan and Trump.
“Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law,” Rep. Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin said in a joint statement. “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the DOJ, Blanche, and Attorney General Pam Bondi after the interview, saying, “This is nothing more than a cover up to protect Donald Trump from his ugly past.”
“The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be — the Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some,” Schumer said in a statement.
“Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth,” he said.
The text of the Epstein Files law says: “Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, subject to subsection (b), make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format 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, that relate to: (1) Jeffrey Epstein including all investigations, prosecutions, or custodial matters. (2) Ghislaine Maxwell.”
CNBC is reaching out to the people identified in the photos or mentioned in the latest release of the Epstein files. This article will be updated with their responses.
A person being mentioned in the release of documents and photos does not imply any wrongdoing.
Blanche is the second-highest-ranking DOJ official, after Bondi. Blanche previously served as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump.
Garcia, D-Calif., and the Maryland Democrat Raskin, in their joint statement, said, “For months, Pam Bondi has denied survivors the transparency and accountability they have demanded and deserve and has defied the Oversight Committee’s subpoena.”
“The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself, even as it gives star treatment to Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell,” they said, referring to the fact that Maxwell was transferred to a less restrictive federal prison earlier this year after sitting for a two-day interview with Blanche.
The files’ ordered release comes after months of controversy over the Trump administration’s decision to renege on past promises by top law enforcement officials to make the documents and other evidence public.
In November, Congress overwhelmingly voted to compel the DOJ to release the Epstein files, and Trump signed that legislation despite having urged Republicans in Congress to oppose it.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a press conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, DC, October 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
Trump, who had been friends with Epstein for years before the two men had a falling out in the early 2000s, had called demands to release the files a Democratic “hoax.”
But some of the leading voices in favor of making the documents public were his fellow Republicans.
Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has denied having been aware of Epstein’s serial sexual abuse of underage girls and young women over the years.
The files set to be released are related to federal investigations of Epstein over many years.
The first of those probes ended in 2008, when he agreed to plead guilty to state charges in Florida related to prostitution of a person under age 18. The deal allowed him to avoid harsher federal charges. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
The 66-year-old Epstein was arrested in July 2019 by federal authorities on child sex trafficking charges.
He killed himself in a Manhattan jail weeks later.
Epstein’s former girlfriend, the British socialite Maxwell, was charged the following year with crimes related to recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.
Maxwell was convicted at trial in 2021.
The Supreme Court recently denied Maxwell’s request that it hear an appeal of her conviction. Maxwell, earlier this week, filed without a lawyer a so-called habeas petition, seeking to have her conviction tossed out because of purportedly newly disclosed information that undercuts the case against her.
— Additional reporting by Garrett Downs, Sean Conlon, Sarah Min, Liz Napolitano and Yun Li
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