Members of Congress will be able to view unredacted Epstein files next week

Members of Congress will be able to begin reviewing the unredacted version of the Justice Department’s records on Jeffrey Epstein on Monday morning, according to two sources familiar with the DOJ’s plans.

The review process will take place in person at the DOJ, according to a letter to members of Congress obtained by NBC News. Members will be able to view the material on computers in DOJ offices, but not the physical documents themselves.

The letter states that members can review the documents in person, as long as they give 24 hours’ notice to the DOJ. At this point, this option is only available to members of Congress – not their staff. They can take notes but cannot bring any electronic devices, the letter states.

The review will only look at the 3 million records currently available to the public, not the vast collection of more than 6 million total documents that the DOJ claims to have in its possession.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche promised members of Congress access to the documents when he announced the release of all documents officials planned to make public last Friday.

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the co-authors of the law that led the DOJ to release the enormous amount of documents, wrote Blanche a letter later in the day requesting access to the unredacted records.

Democrats on the Judiciary Committee also sent Blanche a letter last week asking for the opportunity to review the case as soon as possible.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to appear before the committee next Wednesday, and members want the opportunity to review the documents before appearing.

Leaders and members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will have priority in reviewing them, but all members of Congress will have access to them at some point.

Khanna praised the development in an article on X.

“When Congress pushes back, Congress can prevail. @RepThomasMassie and I have always believed that Congress should not be a doormat. Not when it comes to the Epstein files,” he wrote Friday.

Epstein, a politically connected convicted sex offender, was charged in 2019 in Manhattan federal court with sex trafficking of minors. He died in his jail cell while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide.

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, following backlash to a July memo from the FBI and DOJ stating that they had completed a comprehensive review of the case, that no other people would be charged, and that they would release no more information about the case.

President Donald Trump signed the bill on November 19, giving the attorney general 30 days to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice” involving Epstein, “including any investigations, prosecutions, or custody matters.”

The Justice Department faced criticism from victims and lawmakers over the amount of redacted information in the records, as well as not having enough redacted information on the victims, who the Justice Department said numbered more than 1,000.

“We saw a blanket approach to redactions in some areas, while in other cases victims’ names were not redacted at all,” Khanna and Massie said in a joint letter to the DOJ.

Blanche said last week that the department had consistently “withheld or redacted records covered by various privileges, including deliberative process privilege, the work product doctrine and attorney-client privilege. In total, approximately 200,000 pages were redacted or withheld based on various privileges.”

Khanna and Massie said this was a violation of the law enacted in November, which requires the release of “internal DOJ communications, including emails, memos, meeting notes, regarding decisions to charge, not to charge, investigate, or decline to investigate Epstein or his associates.”