Files will likely feed more questions and conspiracy theoriespublished at 19:49 GMT

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

These are some of the most closely guarded case files by the US government, and have sparked years of conspiracy theories, debates, and arguments over exactly what the powers that be knew about Epstein’s sex trafficking operations.

The ‘Epstein case’ is a byword for government cover ups, elite protection and systemic failure.

The law – passed by Congress last month – will confront years of alleged secrecy by releasing swathes of material related to criminal investigations into Epstein, his indictment, the trial of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and also details around Epstein’s death in jail in 2019.

Many – without evidence – believe the convicted sex offender did not die by suicide.

But what people want, they probably won’t get, given the Epstein Files Transparency Act also allows the US Department of Justice to redact information. This, according to the law, would be any records that contain:

• personally identifiable information about Epstein’s victims
• materials depicting child sexual abuse
• materials depicting physical abuse
• any records that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation”
• or any classified documents that must stay secret to protect “national defense or foreign policy”

Attorney General Pam Bondi would however have to give a clear explanation about the redaction and the black-out would be temporary.

For President Trump this is a huge moment with personal and political implications – the case has consumed his administration.

He, along with some very high profile influential online right-wingers, deeply believed there was a vast conspiracy the government was covering up – and that if Trump won the 2024 election, he would blow the lid off it all.

Despite trying to distance himself from his own promise, he was eventually outmanoeuvred by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to sign this law.

We will definitely get something today, with material that investigators themselves couldn’t corroborate. So it’s likely the files will just feed more questions and more conspiracy theories.

A justice department spokesperson says it will meet the “initial deadline” to release the files related to its investigation into Epstein while working “diligently to protect victims”.

In response to a Politico article posted on X, they refuted suggestions that the Department of Justice won’t meet the Friday deadline to release all of the Epstein files.

• For context: Earlier the deputy attorney general said “several hundred thousand documents” will be released today, and “we are going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks”

“The DOJ is releasing a massive tranche of new documents that the Biden and Obama administrations refused to release”, they say.

“The story here: the Trump administration is providing levels of transparency that prior administrations never even contemplated. The initial deadline is being met as we work diligently to protect victims.”

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

When Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law, a ticking clock started leading up to today – when the Department of Justice (DOJ) is legally required to release all of its files relating to Epstein.

But it looks like that might not happen – with officials saying some files might not be released today. So does that mean the DOJ is violating the law?

According to one legal expert, it’s hard to say, especially because the House and Senate are on their holiday recess.

“These are the kinds of practical things that are difficult to enforce when Congress is out of town,” says Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

If lawmakers were in Washington, they could use their powers to put pressure on the DOJ – including by issuing subpoenas, calling officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi for hearings, and starting inquiries.

Right now, it’s hard to know who has the power to do anything, Tobias says.

However, the DOJ could face legal challenges from Epstein’s survivors or advocacy groups who want to push for the full release of the files.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see somebody go court,” Tobias says. “And maybe a court would agree with them that they needed to hand over the files.”

An enforcement mechanism still remains unclear, though.

“They’re not gonna get any help from the White House,” he adds.

President Donald Trump’s supporters attending a Turning Point USA gathering in Phoenix, Arizona are anticipating the release of a trove of documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Pressure had been building from Trump’s own supporters and from voices within the Republican Party for more transparency on what the federal investigations into Epstein uncovered.

After weeks of resisting release, the president reversed course and urged Republicans to vote to open the Epstein files to public scrutiny.

The White House’s approach to releasing the files has caused frustration among Trump supporterspublished at 19:18 GMT

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Donald Trump’s supporters – activists and rank-and-file voters – want the government files on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to be publicly released. The public polling on this is clear.

That this hasn’t happened yet, despite past promises from the president and many of his top advisers, has been a growing source of frustration – and presents a political threat to the White House.

The Trump administration has offered a grab-bag of often conflicting explanations for its intransigence. It has said that there is nothing in the files, that they contain sensitive information about victims, that it could violate the privacy of innocent people and that the entire Epstein fixation is a Democratic hoax.

This has done little to satisfy the public’s demands – and, in fact, may have heightened curiosity around what those files might contain.

In her Vanity Fair profile published earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles explained that newer members of the Trump coalition were “inordinately interested” in the Epstein files.

Keeping those voters in the Republican fold, she said, was a top priority.

Foot-dragging by the White House – and, at times, outright opposition to efforts to mandate releasing the files – has made that task more difficult for a president who is already facing growing public unease with his job performance.

Some US lawmakers say Trump and the justice department would be breaking the law – a law that the president himself approved – if it fails to release all the files by the deadline at the end of the day.

“Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law as they continue covering up the facts and the evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring,” Representative Robert Garcia of the House Oversight Committee and Representative Jamie Raskin of the House Judiciary Committee say in a joint statement.

Garcia and Raskin accuse Attorney General Pam Bondi of denying Epstein survivors the transparency and accountability they deserve.

“The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself, even as it gives star treatment to Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell,” the lawmakers’ statement continues.

The lawmakers say they are now looking into “all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law”.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

Democratic leaders in Congress say all the Epstein files must be released by today.

“The Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law,” Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer says in a statement.

He says Democratic senators are currently working with lawyers for Epstein’s victims as well as outside counsel to determine what is being released today, and what he claims is being “covered up” by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“This is nothing more than a cover up to protect Donald Trump from his ugly past,” Schumer says.

Ro Khanna, a Democratic Congressman who led the bipartisan effort to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, echoes those sentiments, saying the justice department has had months to prepare for this.

“If the DOJ is producing real documents of interest that are not overly redacted, and if they are clear about a timeline for full production then that is a positive step,” he says. “They ultimately must release all of it.”

He also calls on the justice department to offer a full timeline for the release today.

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says he expects “we’re going to release several hundred thousand [Epstein] documents today”.

He tells Fox News: “Those documents will come in all different forms — photographs and other materials.”

Blanche says Trump has said “for years” that he wants “full transparency” and for the Department of Justice to release everything they can.

The deputy attorney general continues: “We are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story to the extent it needs to be protected, is completely protected.

“I expect we are going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks… I expect several hundred thousand more.”

Rorey Bosotti
Live page editor

Thirty days after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now legally required to release all of its files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Tens of thousands of pages of evidence from federal investigations into Epstein have already been released – the latest batch of 68 photographs was published only yesterday by Democratic lawmakers.

But today we’re likely to get access to a lot more documents relating to two DOJ criminal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein.

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says he expects the department to “release several hundred thousand” files – including “photographs and other materials”.

However, he’s already warned that it may only be a partial release of files today – with it staggered over the coming weeks to ensure the identity of Epstein’s victims are “completely protected”.

The DOJ has until midnight tonight, but two sources tell the BBC’s US partner CBS News the documents will be made public at 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT).

Our teams in London and Washington are primed to search through the documents when they’re released – bringing you insight into their content, as well as analysis and reaction. Stick with us.