US authorities have found more than a million new files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the Department of Justice has revealed.
It comes after the DOJ on Tuesday released the fourth batch of investigative files related to the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile.
The department said the US attorneys office for the Southern District of New York, as well as the FBI, found more than a million more documents that could be relevant to the Epstein case.
It did not say in its statement when it was informed of those new files.
It insisted that its lawyers are working around the clock to review those documents and make the redactions required under the law, passed nearly unanimously by Congress last month.
“We will release the documents as soon as possible, the department said. Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks,” the DOJ added.
Earlier today, the Trump administration said that some 700,000 more files related to Epstein remain to be released.
It said that the release of all those files could take a few more weeks.
A dozen US senators are calling on the Justice Department’s watchdog to examine the department’s failure to release all records by the deadline.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump, mandated the complete release of the Epstein files by Friday of last week.
Victims of Epstein joined a chorus of criticism on Monday over the Trump administration’s slow release and heavy redaction of records from the investigation into his alleged sex crimes.
At least 11,000 new documents related to the case of Epstein were available on Tuesday on the Department of Justice’s website.
It is the largest batch of Epstein files released so far with nearly 30,000 more pages – and it comes a few days after the Trump administration published a large cache of docs, but with extensive redactions.
The new files include hundreds of videos as well as audio recordings, including prison surveillance footage from August 2019, when Epstein was found dead in his jail cell.
They also refer to Donald Trump several times, who “traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported [or that we were aware]”, according to a now-released 2020 email.
It claims the US president was a passenger on Epstein’s private jet on eight flights between 1993 and 1996 – but does not accuse him of any wrongdoing.
A statement from the DOJ stated that some of the docs also include “untrue and sensationalist claims” against President Trump.
It read: “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
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