New Delhi, March 5: The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) is expected to republish nearly 50,000 documents linked to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation by the end of this week, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The files were temporarily removed from the DoJ website after officials discovered that more than 40,000 records had been missing from the public release.

A department spokesperson confirmed that 47,635 files were taken offline for further review and are likely to be republished after redactions and verification are completed. The documents are part of a larger disclosure required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates the release of government records connected to Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein Files: Jeffrey Epstein Revelations Toppled Top Figures in Europe While US Fallout More Muted.

Among the withheld materials are FBI interview summaries, known as Form 302s, documenting meetings with a woman in 2019 who alleged that both Epstein and US President Donald Trump engaged in s*xual misconduct when she was a minor in the 1980s. The claims in those documents remain unverified, and Trump has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying earlier Epstein-related disclosures had “totally exonerated” him. Epstein Files: Paris Prosecutors Open 2 Jeffrey Epstein-Linked Probes and Call on Victims To Come Forward.

The Justice Department initially released millions of pages of Epstein-related records on January 30. However, several interview summaries mentioning the woman were not included in the first batch. Officials said the documents were removed to check whether some files had been improperly tagged during the disclosure process and to ensure victims’ identities and explicit material are properly redacted.

Under the transparency law, documents can only be withheld if they are duplicates, protected by legal privilege, linked to ongoing investigations, or unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell cases. The law does not permit withholding documents simply because they could embarrass public figures.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers in Congress have announced plans to investigate the handling of the Epstein files and the reasons behind the missing records. The woman whose claims appear in the documents had previously filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Epstein’s estate, alleging she was abused as a teenager and trafficked to wealthy men. The case was voluntarily dismissed in 2021.

The DoJ has also cautioned that some material submitted to the FBI may include false or unverified allegations, which are being reviewed before the documents are republished.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2026 03:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).