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A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to release additional unredacted records related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or provide a detailed legal explanation for withholding them, escalating a legal battle over the government’s handling of millions of pages of investigative files.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan directed the Justice Department to either produce the unredacted documents or explain why disclosure is prohibited by July 2. The order stems from a lawsuit alleging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche improperly withheld information from records released under federal transparency laws.
The ruling requires the department to address several categories of records, including eight emails in which either the sender or recipient has been redacted, a draft indictment of Epstein with the names of potential co-conspirators obscured, and a 2019 email referencing multiple alleged associates whose identities remain hidden.
Judge Sullivan also ordered the government to either release interview notes underlying several FBI memoranda discussing unverified allegations involving President Donald Trump or explain why those materials cannot legally be disclosed.
Additionally, the Justice Department must produce a comprehensive log identifying every redaction made to the Epstein files released to date, a requirement Sullivan said federal law mandates.
The court order follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s release of records tied to Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Since December, the department has made millions of pages of investigative materials public, including emails, photographs and law enforcement records. However, officials have acknowledged that only about half of the roughly 6 million pages collected during the investigation are expected to be released, arguing that many remaining records are duplicates, unrelated to Epstein, protected by privilege or contain sensitive victim information.
Lawmakers from both parties, along with survivors of Epstein’s abuse, have questioned why many documents remain heavily redacted or unreleased.
The lawsuit was filed in April by journalist and legal commentator Katie Phang, who argued the Justice Department violated federal disclosure requirements by extensively redacting documents without sufficient legal justification.
The Justice Department countered that Phang lacked standing to bring the lawsuit directly, arguing that the appropriate avenue for obtaining additional records was through the Freedom of Information Act. Phang’s attorneys responded that numerous FOIA requests related to Epstein records had already been denied.
In a 48-page opinion, Sullivan rejected the government’s argument, finding that Phang had standing to pursue the case and concluding that FOIA did not provide an adequate remedy.
After the Justice Department missed a court-imposed response deadline Thursday afternoon, Sullivan ordered the department to produce the requested documents or comply with the court’s disclosure requirements.
The judge also denied the department’s request to delay implementation of any ruling while officials considered an appeal.
The Justice Department has consistently defended its handling of the Epstein files, maintaining that redactions are necessary to protect victims’ identities, personal information and legally privileged material.
One of the disputed records is an email in which Epstein references what has been described as a “torture video.” Earlier this year, lawmakers questioned why the recipient’s identity had been withheld. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche later suggested publicly that the recipient was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the former chief executive of DP World.
The department has not indicated whether it plans to appeal Sullivan’s latest ruling.
The dispute is the latest chapter in ongoing efforts to obtain greater public access to records involving Epstein, whose case has fueled years of public interest, congressional oversight and litigation over government transparency.
The Justice Department has continued releasing portions of the investigative record while maintaining that some materials cannot legally be disclosed because they involve victims, sealed court records or other protected information.
Sullivan’s ruling increases pressure on federal officials to provide greater transparency or clearly justify why specific records remain withheld.
