Topline
President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday that orders his administration to release its full files on Jeffrey Epstein, starting the clock for the Justice Department to release documents by the end of December—though it still remains to be seen how much the agency will actually make public.
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department on November 19 in Washington, DC.
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Key Facts
The legislation requires the DOJ to release its files on Epstein within 30 days of the bill becoming law, which happened as soon as Trump signed it on Wednesday.
That means the DOJ must release its files by Dec. 19 at the latest.
It’s still unclear when exactly the files could be released, or if the Trump administration could choose to make the documents public in several batches, as they’ve done with turning over Epstein-related documents to the House Oversight Committee.
It’s still unclear when exactly the files could be released, or if the Trump administration could choose to make the documents public in several batches, as they’ve done with turning over Epstein-related documents to the House Oversight Committee.
Once the files are released, the DOJ will have 15 days to submit a summary of any redactions made to the files, the categories of documents that were both released and withheld, and a full list of “all government officials and politically exposed persons” who are named or referenced in the documents.
That means all information related to the Epstein files should be released by Jan. 5, 2026, at the latest.
What Epstein Documents Could Be Withheld?
One exception to the Dec. 19 deadline is any documents related to an ongoing federal investigation, which the DOJ can temporarily withhold under the law while the probe remains ongoing—and critics fear the Trump administration will use that as a way to keep many documents under wraps, after it opened a new investigation into people with ties to Epstein. Bondi confirmed last week that, at Trump’s direction, the agency is now investigating Epstein’s ties to such “people and institutions” as former President Bill Clinton, Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, economist Larry Summers and JP Morgan Chase. But she did not answer questions Wednesday about whether the probe would be only into those individuals and entities, or if it could be a broader investigation. Since it was just opened, the investigation is likely to take at least months to complete, meaning any documents won’t be released until likely well into 2026 at the earliest. The law also allows several other categories of information to be withheld, including anything that would identify Epstein’s victims, is classified, or that depicts child abuse.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/11/20/when-will-the-epstein-files-be-released-heres-a-possible-timeline/
