U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche formally notified Congress that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has released all records required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In a six-page report, the DOJ confirmed the publication of nearly 3.5 million pages, including over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The letter included an extensive list of over 300 “politically exposed persons” mentioned in the files, ranging from former presidents to deceased icons like Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin.
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The release has sparked a fierce backlash from the law’s authors, Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna. Massie accused the DOJ of using “deliberative-process privilege” to illegally withhold internal memos detailing why specific associates were never charged. Khanna criticized the DOJ for “muddying the waters” by listing victims and passing references alongside known predators. He noted that including Janis Joplin, who died when Epstein was a teenager, in the same index as convicted abusers like Larry Nassar without context is “absurd” and highly misleading.
Bondi criticised after saying all Epstein files have been released https://t.co/RcCUSMC5a0
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 16, 2026
Lawmakers are now threatening to hold Bondi in “inherent contempt” and have petitioned a federal judge to appoint a Special Master to oversee the DOJ. They argue the department cannot be trusted to independently release the files, citing a pattern of “over-redaction” and the unauthorized removal of documents after publication.
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