The Trump administration plans to grant members of Congress unredacted access next week to certain documents connected to the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors.
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On Jan. 30, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Epstein records comprise more than 6 million pages, though the Epstein Files Transparency Act permits some material to remain withheld.
The Justice Department has already made available an online collection exceeding 3 million pages. That archive includes a “privacy notice” explaining that “sensitive” information has been redacted to protect “victims” and “private individuals.”
Lawmakers who wish to review the unredacted materials have been instructed by the attorney general’s office to do so in a designated reading room, which will be open beginning Feb. 9, operating Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For security reasons, members of Congress will not be permitted to bring electronic devices into the room while accessing the records, though they will be allowed to take handwritten notes.
The Epstein case dates back to 2005, when a Palm Beach County detective took the allegations of a 14-year-old girl and launched an investigation. In 2006, then–State Attorney Barry Krischer presented the case to a grand jury, which led to Epstein being indicted on a single count of soliciting prostitution.
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In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a person under 18. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
In 2018, The Miami Herald’s Julie Brown published reporting examining the role of Alexander Acosta, who later served as Trump’s labor secretary and had previously been the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Acosta had approved a non-prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to plead to reduced state charges instead of facing federal prosecution.
Federal authorities reopened the case in 2019. The FBI arrested Epstein on July 6, and U.S. attorneys in Manhattan charged him with sex trafficking. On Aug. 10, 2019, New York officials announced that Epstein had died by suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
In 2020, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, accusing her of helping to recruit and facilitate the sexual abuse of minors.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre was among the women who alleged abuse by Epstein and who advocated for the release of documents they said demonstrated that Epstein and Maxwell trafficked them to powerful individuals.
Authorities in Australia announced that Giuffre, the author of “Nobody’s Girl,” died by suicide on April 25, 2025, in Neergabby. She was 41 and the mother of three.