CBS analysis finds pages and classified material missing from released Epstein files

Left · 1CBS News reported that documents within the Justice Department's released Epstein files indicate classified information was included in material the DOJ collected, contradicting public statements by Todd Blanche. 1 Left · 2Blanche, who was deputy attorney general when the releases began last winter and is now attorney general, said then: "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]." 1 2 Left · 2An eight-page FBI timeline shows that on March 25, 2025, the FBI's New York office delivered "16 Epstein items to ODAG" (the Office of the Deputy Attorney General), including items described as "Epstein Transparency Project - Classified Material" and "CDs with classified materials (x2)." 1 2

Left · 2The same day, the unit chief of the FBI's National Security Classification Operations Unit emailed an attachment labeled "Epstein - Classified Document Memo.docx," saying three documents were "identified that remain classified"; one was an "FBI document which is classified when see-through," while the other two descriptions and the recipient's identity are redacted. 1 2 Left · 2What was classified and why remains unknown, and it is not clear whether the email and the delivery list refer to the same material. 1 2 Left · 1The DOJ says it collected 6 million pages and released over 3 million after reviewing for duplication, attorney-client privilege and relevance to Epstein; the released Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) sequence runs from 1 to 2,858,498. 1

Left · 1CBS compared the EFTA page numbers with older Bates numbers from earlier cases and bank records. In tens of thousands of instances the EFTA number advances by one while the other numbers advance by two or more, which CBS says indicates pages removed after the DOJ obtained them; one series of about 4,500 check images lacks 66 images. 1 Left · 1Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, told CBS: "Financial records were not a permissible category for removal." 1 Left · 1In a separate sequence of about 995,000 released pages carrying "R1" numbers, gaps indicate entire email exchanges, mostly to or from Epstein, his assistant Lesley Groff or Ghislaine Maxwell, were removed between an earlier review and final release; CBS calculated 1.2 million pages of gaps in that section alone. 1

Left · 2DOJ instructions let attorneys mark interstitial emails in a chain as duplicates when the most inclusive email had been reviewed, which could explain many email gaps; CBS notes duplicates still appear throughout the files and that errors could have deleted crucial emails. 1 2 Left · 1The DOJ did not respond to CBS's recent inquiries but has previously said every document required to be released has been released and the remainder were unrelated, privileged or duplicative. 1 Left · 2Congressional challenges and a lawsuit are pressing for more documents; independent journalist Katie Phang is suing, a federal judge has ruled in her favor several times, and the department is appealing. 1 2