DOJ pleads with lawyers to get through 'grind' of Epstein files as criticism of redactions continues [View all]
Source: CNN Politics
PUBLISHED Jan 13, 2026, 4:25 PM ET
The Justice Department is still struggling to process the massive trove of Epstein files and is prodding hundreds of lawyers reviewing pages to work faster, according to a recent email from DOJ leadership and court filings over the past few days.
“It is a grind,” the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division Tysen Duva wrote on Friday to the document review team who reports to him. “While we certainly encourage aggressive overachievers, we need reviewers to hit the 1,000-page mark each day.”
The email is the latest indication of how burdensome the task has become for the Justice Department to make the Epstein files public in compliance with a transparency law, with redactions. It was first reported by Bloomberg News. “No one is suggesting this is how we wanted to start the year in terms of our focus,” Duva wrote. “But, this is the task at hand. We must complete it. The sooner that we do, the sooner this is over.”
The Justice Department has added lawyers in Washington, New York and Florida to the review effort.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/epstein-files-justice-department-prosecutors-grind
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