Merve Berker
26 June 2026•Update: 26 June 2026
A US federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to either release additional unredacted files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or explain why the information must remain hidden, media reports said on Thursday.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Thursday gave the government until July 2 to comply with the order, which stems from a lawsuit accusing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche of improperly redacting documents, according to CBS News.
The records in question include eight emails with redacted senders or recipients, a draft indictment of Epstein with the names of potential co-conspirators obscured, and a 2019 email mentioning several co-conspirators whose identities were blacked out.
Sullivan also ordered the Justice Department to either release interview notes underlying several FBI documents summarizing unverified allegations against President Donald Trump or explain why they cannot be disclosed.
The court further directed the government to provide a log listing every redaction made to the Epstein files already published.
The ruling follows months of controversy surrounding the department's handling of Epstein-related records. Millions of pages, including photos, emails, and law enforcement documents, have been released since December.
The lawsuit was filed in April by independent journalist and legal commentator Katie Phang, who argued the redactions represented a “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of federal law requiring the files' release.
In a 48-page opinion, Sullivan concluded that Phang had the right to sue over the unreleased records and said the Freedom of Information Act “does not provide an adequate remedy.”
Phang's attorney Brendan Ballou said: “The government thought that it could ignore its own law and blow off a judge's order.”
