SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Justice Department says it has finished releasing the Epstein files. Friday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said another 3 million pages were published.
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TODD BLANCHE: With respect to certain materials - a large quantity of the materials - a rigorous process was undertaken to protect victims against any clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy.
SIMON: But a team of NPR reporters reviewing the files have found that's not always the case. Political reporter Stephen Fowler is one of those reporters and joins us. Stephen, thanks for being with us.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
SIMON: The deadline for sharing the Epstein files was over a month ago. Why this enormous amount released now?
FOWLER: Well, the Justice Department said it took time for them to comb through 6 million documents and make sure that they complied with existing laws around victim privacy and this new law's directive to share as much information as possible. That said, about half of those 6 million files will not be released because the Justice Department says they contain child pornography, deliberative internal process and attorney-client privileged information, duplicate information or unrelated material.
SIMON: What has been released?
FOWLER: There are more than 2,000 videos, 180,000 images. You've got internal files about Epstein's criminal cases and court documents, private files from his emails and text messages with people. And like the other releases, these files have no sense of organization or context and are often heavily redacted. That said, we did find examples of Epstein's victims' names and photographs being unredacted. In some cases - texts that Epstein sent - his name was redacted, and we even found a picture of President Trump's face in a news article hiding behind a black square.
SIMON: All of that being processed, anything new and noteworthy you found so far?
FOWLER: Yeah. Well, looking through the chaos, we did find new conversations with high-profile figures that are deeper and, in some cases, more recent than we knew before - people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former Obama White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler. Even Trump's new Federal Reserve chair pick, Kevin Warsh, shows up on an invite list for a Christmas gathering in 2010. This is important to note, though - the mentions and conversations in this file are not indications of wrongdoing or association with Epstein's crimes. That's also true for an email in the files that contained a collection of unverified allegations of salacious and inappropriate conduct by Trump and others. The Justice Department pointed to a press release that says files may include, quote, "untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump."
SIMON: Three million pages is a lot for you to - and other reporters to go through. What will you be looking for in the coming days?
FOWLER: Our initial dive has found a trove of information that is already out there in court cases and earlier releases of the files. But there's so much left to explore from Epstein's private correspondence, financial documents and other communications that widen the web of Epstein's associates. Beyond the files themselves, though, attention is turning to what isn't there. The Epstein Files Transparency Act directs the Justice Department to share with Congress all of the redactions they made and why within the next two weeks, and they said that covers about 200,000 pages' worth. We've also already seen displeasure from victims who say their names were exposed while other people who committed abuse were left protected, and from members of Congress who say the Trump administration has not followed the law. And in a way, publishing 3 million files like this in this manner just makes closure and finality even less likely for everybody involved here.
SIMON: NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Thanks so much.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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