Judge Orders DOJ to Release More Epstein Files or Explain the Secrecy by July 2.

A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release additional unredacted Jeffrey Epstein records, or publicly explain by July 2, 2026, why they should stay hidden. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued the order in a 48-page opinion, the first ruling to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, CBS News reported.

Update, July 3: The Justice Department let the July 2 deadline pass without releasing the records. Hours before it expired, Associate Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward asked Sullivan to push the deadline back 60 days or set it aside, and the department defended every redaction as appropriate, ABC News reported. Eight email sets, a draft Epstein indictment, and handwritten interview notes stay hidden while the department appeals, and a stay from the D.C. Circuit could delay any disclosure for months.

Update, June 27: The Justice Department said it will appeal. A DOJ spokesperson called the ruling a “perverse interpretation” aimed at “driving misleading headlines” and said the department had produced all responsive documents.

Sullivan’s opinion went further than a likely-to-win finding. He wrote that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “has conceded that he is in violation” of the Act. The July 2 deadline stands while the appeal proceeds.

What the Judge Ordered

Sullivan granted journalist Katie Phang a preliminary injunction after finding she was likely to win her case. The records he ordered the department to address include eight emails with the sender or recipient blacked out, a draft indictment of Epstein with potential co-conspirators’ names obscured, and a 2019 email that names co-conspirators whose identities were redacted.

He also ordered the department to release the interview notes behind several FBI documents that summarized unverified allegations, or explain why it cannot.

The Law Congress Passed Had No Teeth

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in 2025 by a near-unanimous vote, but wrote no enforcement mechanism into it. When the administration kept releasing files with names and emails blacked out, there was no built-in way to force the issue.

Phang’s attorneys sued under the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that lets courts review and overturn agency decisions. Sullivan found she had the right to sue and was likely to prevail. A reporter, not the statute itself, is what moved the files toward daylight.

Why July 2 Matters

By July 2, the Justice Department must either hand over the unredacted records or put its justification for the secrecy on the public record. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump elevated after firing Pam Bondi in April 2026, is responsible for the decision.

The order lands in a months-long fight over who controls the Epstein files, which has run through the Attorney General’s office and the White House. For the first time, a court has set a hard date.

What You Can Do Now

Use the letter below to ask Congress to demand the Justice Department fully comply with the order and to add a real enforcement mechanism to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, so a disclosure law passed almost unanimously cannot be quietly ignored.
Call your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to use oversight hearings to make the department meet the July 2 deadline and stop redacting names the public has a right to see.
Track the case. The department missed the July 2 deadline and is now appealing. If the D.C. Circuit grants a stay, disclosure could stall for months. That is the moment to call again and demand your representatives keep public pressure on the department to comply.