After a limited release of Epstein files leaves many unsatisfied, what’s next? : NPR

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The Justice Department is facing pushback from lawmakers and the public for its failure to release all of its records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A law signed by President Trump ordered the DOJ to release records with minimal redactions by December 19. This was not the case. The government now says there could be millions more documents to review over the coming weeks. NPR’s Stephen Fowler is here now to discuss the implications of the limited release of the Epstein files. Hi, Stéphane.

STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey, there you go.

DETROW: We’ve seen a lot of files, but as we just pointed out, they’re not all of them. So why don’t we have all the files at this point?

FOWLER: Well, the Justice Department says they’re working on it around the clock and they’ve found at least 1 million new documents to review. There’s not really a right answer, though, especially when some of the emails they released show that the FBI and New York prosecutors had all of these documents from Epstein’s estate and the devices they seized for more than five years. In many ways, however, this is a quest that was doomed from the start, Scott, long before Congress got involved.

DETROW: Tell me more about that.

FOWLER: Well, during the 2024 election campaign, Donald Trump and his allies said they would release the files while amplifying some conspiracy theories about Epstein’s life and death. The message they had was basically: Look, the government is run by a powerful people who are hiding the truth from you, and if you elect us, we will do something about it. No amount of filing will satisfy this line of thinking from these people. Then, in 2025, Trump spent most of his speech claiming that Democrats made up the dossiers to hurt him and that Democrats were involved in Epstein’s crimes mentioned in the dossiers and that they also insulted his own supporters who wanted answers about victims who said Epstein and other powerful people trafficked and sexually assaulted them. So that led to this general feeling on the part of the public: Well, now you’re the government, you have the power, and we think you’re the one hiding the truth about Epstein. The White House strongly disagrees with this. They claim to be transparent and respect both the spirit and letter of the law.

DETROW: Let’s talk more about the spirit and letter of the law. The measure passed by Congress and signed by President Trump is quite simple: the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

FOWLER: Yes, on paper, but it’s an incredibly unprecedented request. Law enforcement simply does not reveal everything they obtain during an investigation. There are a lot of things that are unusable and unverifiable, and we’ve already seen examples of this included in the released files. They created new conspiracy theories about Epstein and Trump. There are other laws that Congress has passed, such as the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Act of 1992 and the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, that are much more explicit about what documents must be disclosed, the process, and the long-term timelines. They are fundamentally more specific and achievable than what we have here.

DETROW: So if President Trump made promises on the Epstein files that couldn’t be kept and Congress passed a law asking the Justice Department to do things that can’t be fully done, and in the middle of all that there’s just this insatiable demand from so many corners for more information, where does that leave us?

FOWLER: Deeply dissatisfied, Scott. Only about 40,000 pages were published. The Justice Department says things that might be released in the future can’t be trusted, at least things that won’t be redacted. So this will continue to be a political issue through the 2026 midterms for President Trump and the Republicans.

DETROW: This is NPR’s Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Thank you so much.

FOWLER: Thank you.

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