Epstein files 'will not be released in full' before legal deadline as Trump accused of 'covering up the facts'
It is expected that "several hundred thousand" files will be released today
Files on disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein will not be released in their entirety before the legal deadline, the US deputy attorney general has said.
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Todd Blanche said "several hundred thousand" documents from the so-called "Epstein files" will be released on Friday, but said the need to protect the sex offender's victims meant thousands more would be released over the coming weeks.
The US Department of Justice are legally obligated to make all files related to the investigation into Epstein public by midnight on Friday following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The paedophile financier was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
US President Donald Trump signed the legislation last month to ensure the release of the files, despite previously resisting disclosure and claiming the issue was a "Democrat hoax".
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A joint statement by Ranking Members of the Democrats Oversight Committee Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin has criticised the Trump Administration's decision to defy the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The statement reads: "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.
"For months, Pam Bondi has denied survivors the transparency and accountability they have demanded and deserve and has defied the Oversight Committee's subpoena. 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.
"Courts around the country have repeatedly intervened when this Administration has broken the law. We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law. The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DOJ."
Speaking ahead of the release, Mr Blanche told: "I expect that we're going to release several hundred thousand documents today.
"And those documents will come in in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with, with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein."
Tens of thousands of records relating to Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell have already been released through civil and criminal cases in the US.