Justice department must release most documents by Friday, and failure to do so would provoke a firestorm
In less than 48 hours, Donald Trump's justice department must release most of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein in its possession. Last month, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of those materials by 19 December, except in narrow cases where they would jeopardize current investigations, harm national security or foreign policy goals, or reveal information about Epstein's victims.
Since Trump signed the legislation, his administration has been silent on its progress. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked Pam Bondi, the attorney general, for a briefing on the department of justice's progress, but she did not provide one. Two Democratic senators among that group subsequently pledged to block some civilian nominees, because they were concerned the administration "is gearing up to disregard the law we led the fight in the Senate to pass, which overwhelmingly passed both chambers of Congress".
It's not clear what remedy could follow if the justice department does not heed the law mandating disclosure, though such a move would surely provoke a political firestorm. If the files are released, they could contain hundreds of thousands of pages related to investigations into the late sex trafficker, including additional victims' claims and the names of his high-profile associates. The documents might also lift the veil on how Epstein - who counted Trump and the former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor among his powerful friends - evaded justice for decades.
Many of Trump's far-right supporters ascribe to conspiracy theories that Epstein evaded justice because of his connections to influential men they believe participated in a cabal of youth sex-trafficking. On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump vowed to release the government-held Epstein files and doubled down on this promise early in his second term as president.
But in July, Trump's justice department issued a memo claiming there was no Epstein client list and said: "While we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government's possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted." Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's name appeared multiple times in Epstein files held by the justice department.
Since then, the administration has failed to make meaningful disclosures. In response to administration inaction, Congress gave the green light to legislation in late November mandating that Trump's DoJ release all Epstein files - with few exceptions - within 30 days. Trump signed this bill into law on 19 November.
Here are some of the key moments from this year that have led to this new release of files.