Starting Monday, members of Congress will be allowed to inspect unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records inside a secure Department of Justice reading room after widespread criticism of how the DOJ handled the materials. Lawmakers can view both documents already posted publicly and those the department has kept offline or previously redacted, but they will not be permitted to remove original pages from the room.
The collection is enormous — roughly three million pages — and DOJ officials say reviewing the trove is a time-consuming effort. Even dedicated review teams can take many weeks to work through such a volume of files. CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane noted that the DOJ’s decision to provide on-site access is legally required, while also stressing the practical limits of what can be accomplished quickly.
The department has already withdrawn more than 9,500 pages from its public posting after determining some items had been improperly redacted or should have stayed concealed. It remains unclear how much hands-on assistance members will receive when searching the archive or whether they may delegate the task to designated staffers. Given the size of the collection, DOJ officials may offer logistical support.
Officials and lawmakers expect the review to stretch over weeks and likely months as they sort through what is now available and decide what, if anything, should be released more broadly.