A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release more unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records by July 2. The move comes after a lawsuit was filed by an independent journalist seeking disclosure of sensitive documents. The redacted versions of the files include interview notes documenting a minor's uncorroborated sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump.
A preliminary injunction was granted to the journalist, who alleged that the Justice Department failed to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law requires the government to make Epstein-related investigative records public while allowing limited redactions to protect victims and other legally protected information.
More than half of the six million files have been made publicly available, but the remaining files are withheld due to legal privilege protections or because they are duplicates. The Justice Department has faced criticism over the scope of its redactions, with some arguing it has concealed information that should be public under the law.
The judge ordered the Justice Department to either disclose less-redacted versions of several key Epstein records or justify the redactions. The documents covered by the order include eight emails with hidden senders or recipients, a 2007 draft federal indictment with redacted names of potential co-conspirators, and a 2019 email referencing alleged co-conspirators with obscured identities.
Among the redacted records is an email with a concealed recipient in which Epstein wrote that he "loved" a torture video he watched. The recipient's identity was suggested to be a wealthy Middle Eastern businessman. The order also covers FBI records summarizing 2019 interviews with a woman who made allegations involving President Donald Trump.
The FBI's interview summary alleges that the woman met Epstein when she was 14 or 15 years old and that he later introduced her to Trump, whom she accused of sexually assaulting her in explicit detail. Those claims are uncorroborated, and the president has denied the allegations.
The Justice Department is also required to issue a complete log of every redaction made in records released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The judge rejected the department's argument that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the journalist could have sought the records through the Freedom of Information Act.
The judge concluded that FOIA did not provide the journalist an "adequate remedy." The Justice Department had previously denied related FOIA requests, showing that FOIA was not a viable option for obtaining the records.
The ruling noted that the department itself had previously acknowledged the Epstein Files Transparency Act required broader disclosure than would ordinarily occur through FOIA, including limiting certain exemptions typically available under federal public records law.
