Epstein files released live updates: Documents made public as Trump DOJ criticized for partial release

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the Justice Department's incomplete release of the Epstein files this afternoon.

“This set of heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today is just a fraction of the whole body of evidence," Schumer said.

“Simply releasing a mountain of blacked out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law," he added.

Congress last month approved legislation that Trump signed into law forcing the release of the records.

Schumer pointed to a 119-page document in the files that was "completely blacked out," and said that Democrats are looking into actions to ensure the Trump administration's accountability.

Across the four data sets, there are more than 3,500 files, totaling more than 2.5 gigabytes of photos and documents.

One of the photos released in the tranche of documents shows Clinton pictured alongside Rolling Stones icon Mick Jagger.

Standing between the two is a woman whose face has been redacted. 

The context and date of the photo are unknown. NBC News has reached out to representatives for Jagger and Clinton for comment.

Mick Jagger and Bill Clinton appear in an undated photo released by the Department of Justice on Friday.  Department of Justice

One of the photos released shows Epstein standing with a woman whose face is blacked out, and they're both holding a giant novelty check with a Trump signature on it. The picture is in a frame that says "Once in a blue moon."

It's unclear when and where the picture was taken.

The check appears to be the same one Epstein was photographed holding in a birthday book Maxwell assembled for his 50th birthday. That page included a message from a Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a ‘fully depreciated’ woman to Trump for $22,500.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jeffrey Epstein holds a novelty check bearing Donald Trump's signature in an undated photo released by the Department of Justice on Friday. The photo is in a frame with "Once in a Blue Moon" written around the edge. Department of Justice

Conspiracy theories had been swirling for years about Epstein given his connections to the rich and powerful, the seriousness of the allegations against him and the lenient plea deal he received back in 2008.

Those theories became supercharged after he died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York in 2019, in part stoked by Trump and some of his allies. After Trump took office, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was personally reviewing the files.

But when the DOJ and the FBI issued an unsigned memo in July declaring they'd reviewed the files, and concluded in part that they found no evidence that would lead to other people being charged and said they would not be releasing any further information, a furious backlash ensued, including from some of the president's closest supporters.

The backlash led Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and a frequent target of the president's, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to propose the Epstein Files Transparency Act to make the DOJ's files public. They used a rarely successful mechanism known as a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill, which, after being stalled during the government shutdown, passed last month. It was signed into law by Trump on Nov. 19.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a joint statement with other committee Democrats saying the Justice Department failed to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“The Justice Department’s failure to fully comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act not only violates the law, it continues this Administration’s pattern of protecting President Trump and other perpetrators and perpetuating the ongoing Bondi-Patel cover up at the expense of Epstein’s survivors,” Josh Sorbe, a spokesperson for Durbin and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, said.

In a video call with reporters after the release of the Epstein files, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who alongside Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., led the charge in Congress to pass the legislation that guided the release of the files, called the release "disappointing." Khanna added that officials at the Justice Department, "have not been transparent."

“I have to say that the release has been disappointing from the initial read of it. But, you know, I reserve judgment until we go through all of the release," the California congressman said.

"Again, what I’m calling for, in terms of a constructive next step is for Todd Blanche or Pam Bondi to get in front of the country, to share the timeline for the full release, to share the explanations of the redactions, and to let the country know what they can expect they have not been transparent, and that’s why that’s people’s biggest concern on this, that they’re hiding things," Khanna added.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to members of Congress outlining how the Department of Justice processed and reviewed the thousands of images and documents divulged today under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In the letter, Blanche wrote that 187 attorneys reviewed the documents, as well as a quality control team of over 25 lawyers. According to Blanche, the review process found over 1,200 names of individuals who are identified as either victims or their relatives. The names are redacted, he said.

"Protecting victims is of the highest priority for President Trump, the Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice," Blanche said in the letter.

Despite today being the deadline for the release of all unclassified documents, Blanche said that "final stages of review of some material" remain ongoing.

"I anticipate this ongoing review being completed over the next two weeks," he said.

A photo released in the files today shows the late pop star Michael Jackson and Epstein standing in front of a piece of artwork.

Jackson is donning a pair of sunglasses and a suit jacket, while Epstein wears a zip-up hoodie with his hands in his pockets. The context or date of the photo is unknown.

An undated photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Jackson released by the Department of Justice on Friday.  Department of Justice

The files released today include a photo of former President Bill Clinton in a hot tub alongside someone whose face has been redacted.

It's not clear when or where this photo was taken, or who the other person was. There are no indications of the person's gender or age.

Clinton did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment. The former president has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Photo appears to show Bill Clinton in a hot tub next to a person whose face has been redacted.  Department of Justice

Maria Farmer, an Epstein survivor, said in a statement ahead of the release of the files that she has "waited three decades, over half my life," for this moment.

"When I was ignored and hung up on by the FBI in 1996, my world turned upside down and I felt frozen in time. I faced death threats, ridicule and mockery by some of the most powerful people on earth," Farmer said in a statement posted on Instagram through her attorneys.

"When my FBI reports are finally made available, I am hopeful that I will be able to pick up where I left off at age 26. I am also hopeful that this will be an important step for many of the survivors and to hold the government accountable for their grotesque law enforcement failure, one of the largest in U.S. history," she added.

Farmer became the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Epstein in 1996. She sued the federal government earlier this year in federal court over alleged failures to protect her and other Epstein victims.

How Epstein survivors helped force the release of DOJ files

08:34

Included in the release are case files from the Palm Beach Police Department, which opened the initial investigation into Epstein back in 2005.

The files had previously been made public under Florida public records laws. The probe began in March of 2005 when the Palm Beach P.D. received a call from the mother of a 14-year-old girl who said her daughter was having sex with an adult who lives in a mansion in Palm Beach.

The teen then told police about other victims, who in turn told detectives about additional victims, former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter recounted to NBC News back in 2019.

In another picture that was released, Clinton is shown standing next to Epstein, with both men wearing what appear to be silk shirts while looking at something that is not shown in the picture.

It’s not clear when or where the photo was taken, or what the two were looking at. There's no context for the photo or any indication of wrongdoing.

Clinton did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment on the files disclosed today. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

An undated photo of Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein.  Department of Justice

Telephone records from the investigation are included in the new materials but are heavily redacted. You cannot see who was calling whom.

The White House issued a statement this afternoon following the release of files related to Epstein, saying the Trump administration "is the most transparent in history."

"By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

Trump earlier this year criticized supporters who pushed for the release of files tied to Epstein, but later signed the law requiring their release.

White House touts transparency after DOJ releases Epstein files

02:30

Thousands of pages of Epstein-related files have been released, but the format does not appear to be functioning in line with what's required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The law directed the attorney general 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, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United 6 States Attorneys’ Offices," relating to Epstein and Maxwell.

While the files are downloadable, the search function does not appear to be working. A search for the terms "Epstein" and "Maxwell," for example, came up with no matches.

DOJ search function for Epstein files appears to malfunction

01:52

There are numerous photos of Epstein and Maxwell on what appear to be trips or vacations with others.

Some of the items that have been released are photographs that have not previously been made public. There are numerous redacted photos that are graphic in nature.

The Justice Department has dropped the Epstein records at https://www.justice.gov/epstein.

There are four categories:

• Court Records
• DOJ Disclosures, Including Disclosures Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R. 4405)
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Disclosures 

Speaking to ABC News this afternoon, Blanche denied that the delay had anything to do with Trump.

There is “no effort to hold anything back because there is the name Donald J. Trump," in the files, Blanche said. Trump and Epstein were friends, but the president has never been implicated in any wrongdoing.

He added that there’s been no order to redact any names of high-profile individuals. Blanche said he knows that because “I would give the order.”

Blanche said the Justice Department would release “several hundred thousand documents” from its Jeffrey Epstein investigative files on Friday — but that there’s still much more to come.

“I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms — photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr. Epstein,” Blanche told Fox News.

“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “So today, several hundred thousand, and then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.” 

Read the full story here.

The Justice Department just posted online thousands of pages related to Epstein. NBC News is reviewing the records now.