Justice Department says it released Epstein files, CBS News finds gaps

The Justice Department says it has turned over the Epstein material required by federal law, but the public record still shows holes: pages fully blacked out, files that disappeared from its website, and serial-number gaps in the database. The fight now centers on whether those omissions are protected by law, caused by recordkeeping failures or reflect records that remain withheld.

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act as Public Law 119-38 on Nov. 19, 2025, and President Donald Trump signed it that same day. The law requires the attorney general to release Justice Department documents and records relating to Jeffrey Epstein, while allowing the department to withhold victim personal information and material that would jeopardize an active federal investigation. The department told CBS News that it “has released every document required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” and said the unreleased 3 million documents were duplicative, unrelated to Epstein or protected by legal privilege.

The department’s own tally showed the scale of the release. On Jan. 30, 2026, it said it had published more than 3 million additional responsive pages, bringing the total public release to nearly 3.5 million pages, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The Department of Justice Epstein Library says it will be updated if additional documents are identified for release.

Still, the gaps have fueled suspicion. CBS News reported that more than 500 pages in an earlier release were entirely blacked out, and that at least 15 newly released Epstein files later disappeared from the Justice Department website before some were reposted. In February 2026, NPR reported that about 53 pages appeared missing from the public Epstein database based on serial-number sequences, including FBI interview summaries and notes tied to allegations about Trump. Additional pages related to those allegations were published in March 2026 after that reporting.

The disclosure battle has continued to intensify as lawmakers and survivors press for a fuller accounting. The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General announced in April 2026 that it would audit the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, adding another layer of scrutiny to a fight that has already outlasted Epstein himself. Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 before trial, and the wider record still includes the department’s own November 2020 scrutiny of his 2008 non-prosecution agreement.