Judge Sullivan Receives Epstein Files After DOJ Runs Out the Clock (7/31/26)

The Justice Department delivered the disputed Jeffrey Epstein materials to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan at the edge of the court-imposed deadline, complying only after Sullivan ordered the government to provide less-redacted records or justify why the information should remain concealed. The material included emails involving Epstein, names removed from a draft indictment, references to possible co-conspirators and underlying FBI interview records. Sullivan issued the order in journalist Katie Phang’s lawsuit challenging the DOJ’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, after concluding that the department had failed to meaningfully answer several of her arguments and had already missed an earlier deadline.

Although the last-minute submission technically placed the requested material before the court, it did not make the records immediately available to Phang or the public. Sullivan would still have to review the documents and determine whether the DOJ’s redactions and withholding claims were legally justified. The timing reinforced criticism that the department was treating disclosure as something to resist until compelled, rather than an obligation to fulfill promptly. After months of delayed releases, incomplete explanations and litigation over the redactions, handing the records over at the deadline looked less like voluntary transparency and more like reluctant compliance under direct judicial pressure.


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Blanche surrenders unredacted Epstein files within minutes of judge's deadline - Alternet.org