The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified as many as 1.9 million pages of records in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, materials reportedly stored inside a secret room at FBI headquarters.
According to a filing by the U.S. Department of Justice, the documents are housed in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), where multiple safes contain between roughly 950,000 and 1.9 million pages. The FBI stated the records must be digitized and reviewed before determining what is responsive to the FOIA request, a process expected to take 10 to 12 months, with classification review likely required due to the nature of the storage.
The filing indicates the materials include legacy records tied largely to two closed investigations, along with more recent files connected to active probes and prior Special Counsel matters. Officials noted many of the legacy records fall under the authority of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and must be reviewed in consultation with that office before any release. Other documents may require coordination with additional federal agencies.
The lawsuit stems from a June 2025 FOIA request that the FBI failed to fulfill, prompting litigation. The case also seeks internal FBI communications involving Director Kash Patel and former Deputy Director Dan Bongino regarding the discovery of the records, along with directives on how the materials were handled.
Read the Judicial Watch Press Release
