When will Epstein files be released? All you need to know as Friday deadline looms

The deadline is looming for the resign of the Epstein Files. All eyes are on Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department after the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It mandates that the client list of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and other documents pertaining to him have to be released.

President Donald Trump signed the bill, backed overwhelmingly in Congress, on November 19, marking the start of the countdown. The bill mandated that the files had to be released within 30 days of it being signed into an Act. This marks December 19 as the deadline for Bondi to release the files.

The Justice Department does not have a specific hour by which they have to release the files. However, CNN reported that the release of the Epstein Files could come ‘down to the wire’, citing sources in the DOJ.

That would mean that Bondi and co would be cutting it close to the deadline, indicating that the release might come in the evening. The publication noted that ‘a number of redactions are needed’ and the documents each attorney was processing since Thanksgiving week could number more than 1,000. However, no specific time for the release of said documents is known yet.

As per the law, the Epstein Files have to be released in a searchable and downloadable format. Once they are out, the files will likely be hosted on the DOJ's FOIA Library. There might also be a dedicated transparency portal, like how the House Oversight Committee uses Substack to release the files, but standard practice indicates the DOJ will host it on their site.

The law states the DOJ have to release all unclassified records, communications, and investigative materials from the DOJ, FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s offices related to Epstein and his partner-cum-accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Things that can be redacted include parts of the files that - contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. They can also be withheld if they depict or contain child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) as defined under 18 U.S.C. 2256 and prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 2252–2252A or would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary.

Files might also be redacted if they depict or contain images of death, physical abuse, or injury of any person; or contain information specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order, the Act states.

The CNN report and Bondi's earlier statements indicate that parts of the file will likely be redacted, but the Act also mentions that these redactions will have to be explained to the Congress.

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