(NewsNation) — The Department of Justice released 300,000 files related to its Jeffrey Epstein investigation Friday afternoon, meeting a deadline mandated by Congress.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News the department would not release the full Epstein files Friday as required by law, and will instead release a partial batch. Blanche attributed the delay to the need to redact identifying information about witnesses.
According to Blanche, once identifying information is secured, more documents will be released “over the next couple of weeks.”
In Friday’s release, President Trump was mentioned several times, ranging from real estate deals, his relationship with Epstein, and a document alleging Epstein brought a 14-year-old to Mar-a-lago and introduced her to Trump.
There was a litany of redactions, among them were including 119 pages from grand jury testimony and contact lists.
Files included photos of Epstein with Trump, late pop music star Michael Jackson, former President Bill Clinton, British entrepreneur and Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson, along with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
Dems criticize multiple redactions
Many materials were heavily redacted, with some documents amounting to little more than sheets of black boxes, and many photos protecting the identities of Epstein’s victims.
A number of the photos featured various women whose faces had a black box over them to redact their identities. A document listing more than 200 masseuses in connection with the Epstein cases was fully redacted, as well.
A total of 119 pages of the New York grand jury testimony were fully redacted, leading to criticism from a variety of Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
In a letter to lawmakers, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote that more than 200 attorneys in the DOJ worked on the review process to determine what redactions were required.
“The DOJ’s document dump of hundreds of thousands of pages failed to comply with the law authored by @RepThomasMassie and me,” Khanna alleged on X.
In response, Rep. Thomas Massie, D-Ky., wrote: “Unfortunately, today’s document release by @AGPamBondi and @DAGToddBlanche grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law that @realDonaldTrump signed just 30 days ago. @RepRoKhanna is correct.”
Trump, Clinton, Prince Andrew on flight logs: Docs
According to the documents released, Trump’s name, along with those of his ex-wife, Marla Maples, and his daughter, Tiffany, were listed on the flight logs for flights that traveled between Palm Beach International Airport and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
They were also listed on the flight logs for travel between Reagan National and Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey. Clinton’s name was also found on the flight log from a 2002 flight between Miami and White Plains, New York, documents show.
Other flight logs show that Prince Andrew was among those listed among travelers who flew between the U.S. Virgin Islands and Palm Beach International Airport in 1999.
Both President Trump and former President Clinton were seen in various photos with different women. Specifically regarding Clinton, some of the women he was photographed with had their identities redacted.
Video supports Epstein suicide conclusion
Review of the footage conducted by the FBI shows that Epstein was locked in his cell at the Special Housing Unit at around 10:40 p.m. Aug. 19, 2019, until around 6:30 a.m. the next morning. It also shows that no one entered the cell between those hours and that no minutes within the hours of video footage were missing.
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General said in 2023 that if anyone had entered the cell, they would have been captured on video surveillance.
During the FBI review, investigators enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability.
NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report. Follow live updates below: