UNITED STATES CONGRESS — BIPARTISAN LETTER
Date: January 2026
To: The Honorable Attorney General
From: Bipartisan Members of the House and Senate
Re:
Epstein Files Transparency Act — Compliance Concerns
Dear Attorney General:
We write to express serious concern about the pace and completeness of federal agency compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law in November 2025.
COMPLIANCE TIMELINE:
The Act requires all federal agencies to:
- Identify responsive records within 60 days (deadline: January 2026)
- Release identified records within 180 days (deadline: May 2026)
- Report to Congress on the volume and status of records
CONCERNS:
PACE OF COMPLIANCE:
Reports from the
Epstein Files Review Board indicate that several agencies are behind schedule:
- Intelligence community agencies have been particularly slow to respond
- Some agencies have claimed they need additional time to review classification claims
- The Review Board has noted insufficient staffing dedicated to the project
SCOPE OF REDACTIONS:
Early releases have included extensive redactions:
- Some documents are more redaction than content
- Classification claims appear overbroad in certain categories
- Victim privacy redactions, while appropriate, appear inconsistently applied
WITHHOLDING CLAIMS:
Several agencies have indicated they intend to withhold categories of records entirely:
- Intelligence relationship records
- Ongoing investigation materials
- Foreign government information
REQUEST:
We urge the Department to:
1. Immediately allocate additional resources to Transparency Act compliance
2. Apply a presumption of disclosure to all records
3. Narrowly construe exemptions and withholding authority
4. Provide weekly progress reports to the Review Board
5. Brief Congress on any barriers to full compliance
The American people expect and deserve full transparency about the Epstein case.
Source:
Congressional Record
Available at: https://www.congress.gov/