The U.S. Justice Department has commenced the release of its extensive collection of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, unveiling 12,285 documents, a small fraction of the over 2 million documents earmarked for review. This initial release represents less than one percent of the total cache.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche informed a federal judge about the status of this mammoth task, acknowledging the significant work that lies ahead. In a court filing, they updated Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, highlighting that the released documents encompass approximately 125,575 pages.

They emphasized, “There are more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Act that are in various phases of review,” illustrating the enormity of the undertaking.

The document release follows legislative action by Congress, which in November enacted a law mandating the Justice Department to disclose all files related to Epstein by December 19, 2025. This legislation was passed with near-unanimous support, reflecting the public and political interest in fully understanding the case of the convicted sex offender, who faced numerous allegations of abusing underage girls. Epstein’s life ended in 2019 when he died by suicide.

The vast trove of files consists of papers, videos, photographs, and audio recordings, all housed within the FBI’s primary electronic case management system. These materials largely stem from the FBI’s extensive investigations into Epstein’s activities in both Florida and New York over several decades.

The files are made up of papers, videos, photographs and audio files that live within the FBI’s main electronic case management system and largely originate from the FBI’s two major investigations into Epstein, in Florida and New York, spanning decades.

A July 2025 FBI memo said that the department had uncovered “more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence” during a review of the investigative materials.

“This work has required and will continue to require substantial Department resources,” the Justice Department wrote to the judge in the Monday court filing.

“We noted in our prior letter the hundreds of attorneys dedicated to the review at the time of that letter. Currently, and anticipated for the next few weeks ahead, in the range of over 400 lawyers across the Department will dedicate all or a substantial portion of their workday to the Department’s efforts to comply with the Act.”

Trump appointees at the Justice Department have said they’re acting in good faith to release as much material as fast as possible, while also going through the painstaking work of reviewing every file to make sure victims’ identities are shielded, as required by the law.

In a letter to Congress released on December 19, Blanche said the department was working “diligently” to meet the deadline but that the “volume of materials” meant it “must publicly produce responsive documents on a rolling basis.”

The Justice Department announced in late December that there were more than a million more newly discovered documents potentially related to Epstein – and that they would take “weeks” to review and release them.

And as CNN previously reported, the Justice Department’s leadership also asked career prosecutors in Florida to volunteer over the holidays to help redact the documents.