The Justice Department will let members of Congress view unredacted copies of the more than 3 million documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that have been publicly released, according to a letter obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Democrats have argued that the DOJ is skirting its statutory requirements under the Epstein Transparency Act by withholding millions of documents and heavily redacting some of the files they did release.
- House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sent a letter to the DOJ last week requesting a review of the "complete unredacted Epstein files."
- "We seek to ensure that your redactions comply with the Act's requirement that materials be withheld only in narrow circumstances, such as protecting victims' personally identifiable information, and not on the basis of "embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,'" Raskin wrote.
Driving the news: House members and senators will be given access to unredacted copies of the files starting on Feb. 9, assistant attorney general Patrick Davis wrote in a letter to members of Congress.
- The documents will be available on computers in a reading room at the DOJ building in Washington, D.C., from 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, Davis continued.
- Members must give at least 24 hours' notice and cannot bring in electronic devices, though they are permitted to take notes.
- The letter was first reported by NBC News.
What they're saying: The review is "in keeping with the Department of Justice's commitment to maximum transparency regarding our compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act," Davis said.
- "We are confident that this review will further demonstrate the Department's good faith work to appropriately process an enormous volume of documents in a very short time."
