Internal Justice Department records reveal that classified material related to Jeffrey Epstein exists, directly contradicting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s repeated assurances that no files were being withheld for national security reasons.
Deputy Attorney General Received Classified Materials
Documents within the released Epstein files show that Blanche’s own office received classified material in March 2025. An eight-page FBI timeline details the delivery of 16 Epstein-related items to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Two of these items are explicitly labeled as classified: one marked “Epstein Transparency Project – Classified Material” and another listing “CDs with classified materials.” By federal law, material can only receive classified status for national security purposes, raising questions about what information the government deemed sensitive enough to warrant such designation.
An email from the FBI’s National Security Classification Operations Unit, sent the same day, references an attachment labeled “Epstein – Classified Document Memo.” The email states that three documents “remain classified,” including one FBI document described as “classified when see-through.” Descriptions of the other two documents are redacted, as is the identity of the email recipient.
Document Gaps Point to Missing Records
A CBS News analysis of the numerical coding system used to organize the Epstein files reveals systematic gaps in the released documents. The files use Bates numbers, a standard legal document organization method, running from 1 to 2,858,498. Missing sequences in this numbering system indicate withheld pages, including financial records from Epstein’s bank accounts at JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank that were collected during the federal trafficking investigation. The Justice Department has not explained why these specific documents were excluded from the public release.
Transparency Questions Remain
When document releases began last winter, Blanche stated that the Epstein Files Transparency Act authorized withholding information for national security or foreign policy reasons but emphasized that “no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis.” He specifically claimed there was no “tranche of super-secret documents” being kept from the public. The newly discovered references to classified material directly contradict these statements. What remains unclear is whether the classified items mentioned in the March 2025 delivery are the same documents referenced in the FBI email, or if multiple sets of classified material exist. The content of the classified information and the justification for its classification remain unknown.