FBI agents are working 12-hour overnight shifts this week in a frantic push to review and redact documents related to the investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein before the Justice Department releases them, according to people familiar with the situation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the redactions after vowing to release all evidence tied to the Epstein case. The first batch, made public in February, was largely composed of documents already available to the public, sparking backlash from Trump’s MAGA supporters who were expecting new revelations.
To meet the new deadline, agents have been reassigned from other investigations to assist in the review process. Every division of the FBI, including those focused on criminal and national security matters, has been instructed to provide personnel, sources said. Agents in the Washington field office have been spending hours on redaction duty, with additional work taking place at FBI headquarters, New York field offices, and an FBI site in Chantilly, Virginia.
Inside FBI facilities, agents sit at rows of computers, using specialized software to apply redactions required under federal laws, including the Privacy Act. The review includes both documents and video evidence, sources said.
Bondi has claimed that she only recently learned investigators in New York —who led the Epstein case—were still holding thousands of pages of material. She Pressed FBI Director Kash Patel to produce the remaining records immediately.
“There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access. The Department of Justice will ensure any public disclosure of these files will be done in a manner to protect the privacy of victims and in accordance with law, as I have done my entire career as prosecutor,” Bondi wrote to Patel.
A Justice Department official said that even if the latest batch of documents does not fully satisfy critics, the public is gaining access to more information than it would have without Bondi’s intervention.
“The goal is transparency,” the official said.
The Epstein document release is part of a broader effort by President Trump to declassify historical records, including files related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.
