The U.S. Department of Justice has declined to release additional records from the Jeffrey Epstein files, arguing that the withheld material either contains sensitive information identifying victims or was lawfully redacted, despite a court order requiring further disclosure or an explanation for the omissions.

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In a filing submitted on Thursday, Associate U.S. Attorney General Stanley Woodward asked the court to either extend the deadline for producing the records by 60 days or accept the department's explanation for why certain documents should remain withheld.

The filing came shortly before a court-imposed deadline set by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who had ordered the department to provide additional records or justify its decision not to release them.

DOJ cites victim privacy

Woodward said the Justice Department disagrees with the court's conclusion that the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) can be enforced by private parties through the Administrative Procedure Act. However, he said the department was using the opportunity to clarify why some documents had not been disclosed.

According to the filing, several emails had identifying information removed to protect the identities of victims. Woodward said parts of one email were also withheld because communications written by victims could appear misleading or disturbing if viewed without the surrounding context.

The department also addressed a redacted draft indictment from 2007 prepared by the Southern District of Florida. Woodward said the redactions were already present in the copy obtained by the Justice Department and that officials had been unable to locate an unredacted version of that particular document.

Interview notes remain withheld

The filing also explained why handwritten interview notes linked to a woman who made unsubstantiated assault allegations against President Donald Trump had not been released.

Woodward said the handwritten notes duplicated information contained in typed interview reports that have already been disclosed. He added that the handwritten format made it more difficult to carry out redactions and increased the risk of accidentally revealing victims' personally identifiable information.

The allegations made by the woman have not been corroborated, and Trump has denied them. While the Justice Department has released typed summaries from some interviews, it has not published the underlying handwritten notes.

Court challenge continues

Woodward also rejected Judge Sullivan's suggestion that the department had effectively acknowledged violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act by withholding records.

He wrote that the department had neither knowingly breached the law nor admitted doing so, maintaining that it continues to comply with its statutory obligations.

Last week, Sullivan dismissed the department's arguments against releasing the additional records. He also found that the Public Integrity Project, a public interest law firm, had demonstrated that journalist Katie Phang was harmed by the withholding of the materials.

The Justice Department began publishing thousands of pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein late last year following the enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. However, the release process has drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue that the department failed to disclose all required records and did not meet statutory deadlines.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 3 July 2026

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I like how Trump once said he’s gonna release all the Epstein files and then he does everything in his power to make sure this doesn’t happen who do you think he’s protecting TIT

Oh dear, Donnie will be safe ??

And still not a single person has gone to jail over this except Ghislaine Maxwell, who's in a

"country club" prison. It's all to protect the rich and powerful.

Delay, delay, delay. Why delay if there's nothing to hide?

Because Donald Trump's name is woven throughout the Epstein files crime syndicate like a red thread in a flea bitten Afghanistan camel carpet. 😭

4 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Because Donald Trump's name is woven throughout the Epstein files crime syndicate like a red thread in a flea bitten Afghanistan camel carpet. 😭

Donald had the beauty pageant franchise back in those days wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he did a bit of recruiting from their ranks and his old lady was one of Epsteins freelancers Naa he’s protecting himself he doesn’t care a whit about others….wouldent surprise me one bit if he’s charging protection from the other perps.what a farce!

The fact is, a law was passed that explicitly called for the Epstein files to be released in full. Now the DOJ is in breach of that law.

How can Ghislaine Maxwell be in prison for trafficking children if who she trafficked to cannot be revealed? Does this mean she is in prison for not trafficking kids to anyone? Then free her.

Trump believes the files could hurt some people. Yet if they are in the files they deserve to be hurt.

How can the DOJ keep asking for time if not because they can block the release of names?

In one way (not politically), one hopes the Dems win the house and Senate in November so that they get full access to the files.

19 hours ago, webfact said:

contains sensitive information identifying victims

Isn't that how Trump always sees himself - a victim?

2 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

I like how Trump once said he’s gonna release all the Epstein files and then he does everything in his power to make sure this doesn’t happen who do you think he’s protecting TIT

Well I like you don't have access to those files not release yet but the Congressional Committee that has had some additional access indicates that Trump's nam was noted more than t million times in those files not yet released. In addition, the girl interviewed 4 times by the FBI says that TRUMP raped her when she was 13 - I tend to believe her and the only reason he refuses to release the additional files is to protect no only himself but his rich and powerful perpetrators of raping young girls! IMHO anyway.

3 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Oh dear, Donnie will be safe ??

Let us all hope the truth does emerge - so all the world can see what a disgusting creature the orange felon really is

4 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

I like how Trump once said he’s gonna release all the Epstein files and then he does everything in his power to make sure this doesn’t happen who do you think he’s protecting TIT

He is protecting both himself and a number of the rich and famous who would be severely damaged and possibly face imprisonment as well as financial damage costs. I do not the this is a stretch of imagination.

4 hours ago, newnative said:

Delay, delay, delay. Why delay if there's nothing to hide?

No delay now. A firm decision not to release the files.

Did anyone think this was going to end differently?

 

Trump has a lot to answer for, he had a decade long friendship with Epstein, who said on record Don was his closest friend in the world. There's countless amounts of information about Trump having spent an inordinate amount of time at the mansion, and there are flight records showing that Trump flew with his close buddy Jeffrey at least seven times, possibly many more times than that, and we know what his penchant was for "very young women". 

When a Trump supporter is faced with a difficult situation and attempts to defend the indefensible they always resort to Biden, Obama, and Clinton. It's almost like there's a collective amnesia that takes place, wherein they forget who the current president is and where the real responsibility lies.

Have they forgotten 18 months of promises to release the files?

Have they forgotten how many times he mentioned Biden covering up the Epstein files?

Isn't that exactly what he's doing now? And why doesn't that matter to them anymore?

Will you guys please stop this nonsense, will you please stop insisting on the release of these files? I'm not guilty, I was never friends with Epstein, we were never close, we didn't hang out together, the photos of us with our arms around each other were all doctored, I didn't spend a lot of time at his mansion, I didn't take multiple trips to Orgy Island, I've never been with underage women, I've never sexually assaulted a woman, and I've never committed rape.

Can't you see how incredibly handsome and appealing I am? Why would I need to do that, all women want me, and I can just grab them by the pus**, just so just stop with the nonsense, and leave it alone.

I know I may have mentioned it several hundred times during the campaign, but I'm the king now, so you guys need to just forget it and behave like loyal subjects and show me alot of fealty. Behave yourselves. 

There are some politicians that come along who are ignorant, thick-headed and just don't understand how politics work. Trump is one of them. Yes he was able to lie to and manipulate enough people to get elected twice, but he is simply not smart enough to handle his own PR. Like Bill Clinton, had Don just simply admitted that Epstein had procured many women for him over the course of their friendship (but insisted that they weren't underaged) it's very likely this thing would have just gone away. Most Americans simply presume that he used Epstein's gals (though some of us presume they were likely underaged, making Trump a serial statutory rapist). But that cannot be proven so if he simply admitted that he got busy with Epstein and his gals this whole thing probably would not have stuck. After all, Trump is morally depraved and ethically bankrupt, so why wouldn't he have used Epstein's gals?

19 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

He is protecting both himself and a number of the rich and famous who would be severely damaged and possibly face imprisonment as well as financial damage costs. I do not the this is a stretch of imagination.

I would think that the US would really be embarrassed to see other countries taking action against the perps in the Epstein files while in the US the bad guys are being protected by the president of the US, probably the number one perp in the remaining files IMHO anyway.