A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release additional unredacted Jeffrey Epstein materials or explain why redactions should remain in place in a lawsuit challenging the department’s handling of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A federal judge in Washington ordered the Department of Justice on Thursday to remove redactions from additional Jeffrey Epstein records by July 2 or provide an explanation for why the information must remain withheld.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued the order in Phang v. Blanche, granting a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit alleging the department improperly redacted and withheld documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The directive gives the Justice Department one week to produce unredacted records or justify the continued redactions. Sullivan identified the materials at issue as eight emails to or from Epstein in which sender and recipient names remain blacked out, two department files naming alleged co-conspirators, and FBI notes underlying four formal written interview reports.
Sullivan also ordered the department to begin reviewing foreign-language materials that may be subject to release and to publish in the Federal Register the redaction log required by Congress under the 2025 transparency law.
The lawsuit was filed in April by Katie Phang, an attorney and independent journalist who has covered the Epstein investigation on YouTube and other platforms. Phang argues that the department’s Epstein Act releases, which total roughly 3.5 million pages, included redactions not authorized by Congress.
According to Sullivan’s memorandum opinion, Phang alleges the Justice Department concealed sender and recipient names in at least eight email exchanges with Epstein involving a “torture video” and sexual activity involving young women, including minors. She also alleges the department blacked out names of alleged co-conspirators in a draft indictment.
The lawsuit further claims the department withheld 36 items mentioning President Donald Trump, including FBI notes from interviews with a woman who said Epstein introduced her to Trump in the 1980s, when she was about 13, and that Trump then assaulted her.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.
The Justice Department had asked the court to dismiss the case. In a June 5 filing, the department argued that Phang lacked standing, that the Epstein Files Transparency Act did not create a private right of action and that the Freedom of Information Act already gave her an adequate legal remedy.
Sullivan rejected those arguments, finding that Phang could sue under the Administrative Procedure Act and had identified concrete harm from the department’s withholdings. The judge cited her claim that the redactions had prevented her from publishing certain stories.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, Public Law 119-38, was signed by Trump on Nov. 19, 2025, after a near-unanimous bipartisan vote. The law directed the attorney general to release all unclassified Epstein-related materials, while requiring written explanations for any information withheld.
The Justice Department has released about 3.5 million pages of Epstein-related records. According to the department, more than 6 million pages were collected during the investigation, leaving roughly half still unreleased.
As of Thursday, the department had not publicly responded to Sullivan’s order.
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