The Epstein files live updates: New documents expected today — but not all of them

Justice Department officials told multiple news outlets earlier today that the files will be released at 3 p.m. ET.

The DOJ has now missed that deadline. By law, it has until midnight tonight to release all of its files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

While the specifics of what will be in the files released on Friday aren't clear, here is some of what is anticipated:

• Any deals between the government and Epstein associates, including non-prosecution agreements and sealed settlements.
• Records tied to Epstein's death in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, such as transcripts of interviews with people in neighboring cells the night he died.
• Records into what has widely been criticized as a "sweetheart deal" for Epstein by federal Florida prosecutors.
• Material surrounding calls victims say they made to the FBI as early as the 1990s about Epstein's conduct, which did not lead to any known law enforcement investigation.
• Additional flight records from Epstein's private jets.

The Justice Department is pushing back on criticism that it is not meeting the statutory deadline, characterizing it as an "initial deadline" — though the law does not call it that.

"The Trump administration is providing levels of transparency that prior administrations never even contemplated," the Justice Department's office of public affairs wrote on X. "The initial deadline is being met as we work diligently to protect victims."

The White House initially opposed the transparency law until enough Republican lawmakers broke with GOP leadership to join House Democrats, forcing a vote on the bill. After it became clear Congress would move ahead anyway, Trump flipped his stance on the legislation.

During Epstein's 2019 arrest, the FBI searched his Manhattan townhouse and his home in the US Virgin Islands. In the process, they obtained more than 70 computers, iPads, and hard drives, along with financial documents and binders full of CDs.

Those seized materials form the heart of the "Epstein files," which could shed even more light on the deepest, darkest secrets of the notorious pedophile.

By law, the Justice Department is required to publish "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" about Epstein and Maxwell.

Those could include more emails and text messages, as well as internal prosecutorial records. The Justice Department has overseen two different criminal investigations into Epstein's sexual abuse of teenage girls. The first took place in Florida and led to a widely criticized plea deal in 2008. The second was the Manhattan-based investigation, which led to Epstein's 2019 arrest and Maxwell's prosecution.

"We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law," Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California said in a joint statement. "The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DOJ."

Raskin and Garcia serve as the top Democrats on the powerful House Judiciary Committee and the Oversight Committee, respectively. Since Democrats control neither chamber of Congress, their power to force the immediate disclosure of the documents is more limited.

Earlier today, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would not meet the legal deadline imposed by bipartisan legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law in November that requires the DOJ to release "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" regarding Epstein and his conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

"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, I expect several hundred thousand more," Blanche said during an interview on Fox News.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator, was found guilty of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Civil lawsuits involving Epstein, Maxwell, banks affiliated with Epstein, and the US Virgin Islands government have shaken loose even more details about his life. Various drips and drabs have also entered the public domain through Freedom of Information Act requests, government reports, and an inquiry from the Senate Finance Committee.

All of that may pale in comparison to what the Justice Department has in its possession.

Yes. In recent months, the House Oversight Committee has made public Epstein-related documents it obtained through subpoenas, including emails provided by his estate and never-before-seen photos of some of Epstein's powerful acquaintances, including Trump, Bill Gates, Larry Summers, and Steve Bannon.

Those disclosures have already led to some fallout. Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, has been barred from the American Economic Association for life and is no longer teaching classes at Harvard University, pending an investigation.

Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. He was known for rubbing elbows with powerful people — even after he was convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008. Over the years, he has counted Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and other titans of finance, law, politics, and science among his acquaintances.

While a past relationship with Epstein is no indication of wrongdoing, his victims and other members of the public have pushed for the disclosure in hopes that the DOJ's records might shed light on those relationships and law enforcement's handling of the case.