By Julia Harte, Sarah N. Lynch and Joseph Ax
Dec 19 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release a massive trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Congress overwhelmingly approved a new law forcing their disclosure last month.
That legislation followed months of political wrangling as well as rebellion by some of Trump's staunchest supporters over his administration's months-long reluctance to make the records public.
It remains unclear how, or when, the files will be released on Friday, but they will likely not represent all unclassified records held by the agency. The law allowed the Justice Department to withhold personal information about Epstein's victims as well as any material that would jeopardize an active investigation.
Attorneys in the Justice Department's National Security Division were ordered to review the materials and redact them in preparation for their release, two sources briefed on the matter said.
They have been working on the task since after the Thanksgiving holiday and were ordered to prioritize it over other casework. But due to the quick turnaround time, some are nervous about potential mistakes and the chance that some personally identifiable information could accidentally remain, the sources said.
Trump had initially urged Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, to oppose the law, arguing that releasing potentially sensitive internal investigative records could set a dangerous precedent. He publicly reversed course just before the vote, even as the White House quietly lobbied senators to slow-walk passage of the bill.
But many Trump voters accused his administration of covering up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and obscuring details surrounding his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on charges of abusing and trafficking underage girls. While Epstein's death was ruled a suicide, it sparked years of conspiracy theories, some amplified by Trump himself to his supporters when he was a presidential candidate.
If the Justice Department does not release all of its files, it is likely that many Trump supporters will still not be satisfied. That could mean the issue remains a political headache for the president and his Republican Party heading into tough midterm congressional elections next year.
TRUMP GETS POOR RATINGS ON EPSTEIN ISSUE
Just 44% of American adults who identify as Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the Epstein issue, compared to his 82% overall approval rating among the group, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Last month, Democrats in the House of Representatives released thousands of emails obtained from Epstein's estate, including one in which Epstein wrote that Trump "knew about the girls," without clarifying what that meant. Trump, in response, accused Democrats of promoting the "Epstein Hoax" as a distraction.
House Republicans released more emails the same day, including one saying Trump visited Epstein's house many times but "never got a massage."
Trump was once friendly with Epstein until they had a falling out in the mid-2000s, before Epstein's first conviction in 2008. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowing about Epstein's sex trafficking.
But he reneged on a 2024 campaign promise to declassify the government's Epstein files if elected, prompting some lawmakers to launch what at first was seen as a long-shot effort to force a vote on disclosure.
Two days after Congress' email releases, Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's connections to Democratic former President Bill Clinton and JPMorgan , in what critics viewed as an effort to shift the focus away from himself.
The following week, despite White House pressure to delay the vote, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill forcing the release of the Justice Department records, which Trump then signed into law.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Julia Harte and Joseph Ax, editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)
