Classified material missing from Epstein files, documents suggest

Missing pages and a reference to classified documents contradict the Justice Department’s claims about the Epstein files.

Missing pages and a reference to classified documents contradict the Justice Department Attorney General Todd Blanche has long maintained that the so-called Epstein files, even those kept from the public, contain no secret information related to national security. When the document releases began last winter, Blanche noted that the Epstein Files Transparency Act authorized withholding information in the interest of national security or foreign policy, but said, "no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis." "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding, we're actually not withholding anything based upon [national defense information]," said Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time.

But the contents of at least three documents in the massive tranche of files indicate classified information was included in files collected by the DOJ. One of the documents shows Blanche's Office of the Deputy Attorney General itself received classified material related to Epstein in March 2025. By law, material can only be classified for national security purposes. The Department of Justice says it collected 6 million pages of material and ultimately released over 3 million of those pages after reviewing for duplication, attorney-client privilege and relevance to Jeffrey Epstein. Congressional challenges and a lawsuit are casting doubts on the DOJ's claims and demanding the release of more documents that