The Justice Department on Friday resumed releasing more of the long-awaited investigative files relating to the late sex offenderJeffrey Epstein.
The new document dump was massive and included more than 3.5 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a press conference that, among other things, the DOJ released "large quantities of commercial pornography and images that were seized from Epstein's devices but which he did not take."
But, Blanche added, "some of the images do appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or by others around him.
In addition to being enormous, the new Epstein material released Friday was late.
The DOJ missed a December deadline to turn over all the documents required by theEpstein Files Transparency Act, whichwas signed into law Nov. 19 by President Donald Trump and gave Attorney General Pam Bondi 30 days to release all of the department's Epstein files.
Earlier in December, the DOJ posted some 3,500 files on its website that included court documents, correspondence and dozens of photos that had previously not been made public.
Some of that material appeared to be highly sexual in nature and was redacted. Others were marked CSAM, which stands for "child sex abuse material."
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Epstein wascharged in 2019 in Manhattan federal courtwith sex trafficking of minors, many of whom he allegedly preyed on while they were performing massages on him. He died behind bars while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide.
In the files that were released in December, there are several photos of Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell on what appear to be trips or vacations with others.
Epstein surrounded himself with rich and influential people and was friends for many years with Trump before the Manhattan mogul was elected president.
A search tool on the DOJ's website surfaced Trump's name hundreds of times in the documents released in December.
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Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes related to Epstein. But he and Epstein were fast friends until they had a falling out around 15 years ago.
In addition to Trump, Epstein had been close friends with powerful men such as former President Bill Clinton, Ohio billionaireLes Wexnerand the former Prince Andrew of Britain, among others.
Epstein'sdeathwhile awaiting trial fueled years ofconspiracy theories,some of which Trump himself fanned.
During the presidential campaign in 2024, Trump promised to"declassify the Epstein files"if elected. And in February, his handpicked attorney general, Bondi, announced that an Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now" waiting to be reviewed and released.
But the"Epstein binders"Bondi circulated to MAGA influencers contained no client list and turned out to be information that had already been made public.
Trump's core supporters erupted in fury when theDOJ and the FBI announcedin July that an exhaustive Epstein case review had uncovered no evidence that justified investigating other individuals. Despite earlier pledges of transparency, the DOJ said no more information about the case would be released.
Faced with a revolt by some of his most ardent supporters, Trump at first called the demands for releasing the files a "Democratic hoax."
But the drumbeat for Trump and his DOJ to release the files grew louder in November when Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails written by Epstein in which he wrote that Trump"knew about the girls,"but didn't directly accuse him of any wrongdoing.
Under pressure, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Nov. 19.
Epstein was first charged by Florida federal prosecutors in 2006 with having sex with a minor. He wound up pleading guilty to state charges involving a single underage victim after reaching a secret non-prosecution agreement.
That deal resulted in Epstein serving 13 months in a Palm Beach County jail, where he was allowed to leave almost daily via a work-release program andhave his own private security detail.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term for conspiring to sex traffic minors and was reportedly seeking to get her sentencecommuted by Trump, according to a whistleblower report to Congress.
Last month,Maxwell asked a federal judgein the Southern District of New York to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence. She claimed "substantial new evidence" had emerged.