New FBI Disclosures of Missing Trump Administration Communications Expose Noncompliance with Epstein Files Transparency Act

Democracy Defenders Fund files letter with the OIG as new FOIA records related to the Epstein Files reveal missing communications and inconsistent redactions by DOJ

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to Democracy Defenders Fund’s Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI recently released dozens of records that reveal that high-level FBI officials in the Trump administration closely tracked the FBI’s review and redaction of files related to Jeffrey Epstein in March 2025. Many of these emails were never released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act or were redacted to remove government officials’ names, in violation of that act.

The FBI records reveal communications between top officials — including FBI Director Kash Patel, then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove — that fit clearly within the scope of the EFTA’s disclosure requirement but which the DOJ excluded from official release. 

DDF previously called on the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General to open an audit into the department’s failure to comply with the EFTA, which OIG did in April of this year.

In light of the FBI’s FOIA production, yesterday DDF submitted a letter containing these supplemental records to the OIG to ensure they are addressed as part of the ongoing audit. 

“The documents expose critical gaps in the DOJ’s official Epstein library release and raise serious questions about whether top officials coordinated to keep sensitive communications out of public view,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund. “We have provided these missing records to the Inspector General for their ongoing audit to ensure the American public obtains the answers and accountability they deserve.”

Key Findings from DDF’s review:

• DOJ improperly withheld documents required to be released under the EFTA. Email correspondences and documents from top Trump administration officials at the FBI and DOJ were not included in the Epstein library maintained by DOJ.

• DOJ improperly redacted the names of high-level officials in the Epstein Library. While the department aggressively shielded the names of government employees in the official EFTA release, those same identities were readily accessible in the FOIA-produced documents. 

“It is deeply unsettling, but unfortunately not surprising, to see further evidence that the DOJ has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the EFTA,” said Christopher Swartz, senior ethics counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund. “Congress spoke clearly and unequivocally in November of last year: release the Epstein Files. DOJ had no legal basis to withhold and redact communications by high-level officials. The fact that they did is just another reason why it is so imperative for the Inspector General to do a fair, independent and nonpartisan audit of DOJ’s response to the EFTA.”

To date, DOJ has only released 3.5 million pages of the purported 6 million pages it reviewed. The documents produced in response to DDF’s FOIA litigation provide significant insight into how top FBI officials were overseeing the review of the Epstein files during a critical period of time, making them the exact type of document that Congress wanted made public when it passed the EFTA. The American public deserves a full accounting of the DOJ’s noncompliance and access to a complete record of these critical files.

Read the full letter here.

Access the records produced by the FBI: tranche 1, tranche 2

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

For media inquiries, contact press@democracydefenders.org.