Overview
- On Christmas Eve, the Justice Department said SDNY and the FBI informed it of over a million additional documents potentially tied to the Epstein case, with lawyers reviewing them for legally required redactions that could take weeks.
- The latest tranche posted Tuesday included roughly 11,000 files and underscored ongoing complaints about non‑searchable formats, heavy blackouts, and quality lapses, prompting DOJ warnings that some items are fake, including a purported Epstein letter to Larry Nassar.
- Department leadership requested holiday volunteers from the Southern District of Florida to help with remote document review and redactions, signaling continued rolling releases rather than a single comprehensive dump.
- Political pressure intensified as twelve senators urged an inspector‑general review of the missed statutory deadline, and lawmakers who authored the transparency law discussed possible contempt action against Attorney General Pam Bondi.
- Substantive leads surfaced in the public files, including an internal 2020 email noting at least eight 1993–1996 flights by Donald Trump on Epstein’s jet and FBI references to about 10 potential co‑conspirators, though many names remain redacted and appearances in the files are not evidence of wrongdoing.