Epstein files may have included classified material, documents reviewed by CBS suggest

CBS News found at least three documents suggesting the files the Justice Department collected on Jeffrey Epstein included classified material, and gaps in page numbering that point to large amounts of withheld material.

CBS News has found at least three documents suggesting that classified information was included in the files the Justice Department collected on Jeffrey Epstein, despite earlier assurances to the contrary. Attorney General Todd Blanche, then deputy attorney general, had said: "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding."

One document dated March 25, 2025, logs the FBI's New York office delivering "16 Epstein items" to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, two of them listed as "Epstein Transparency Project - Classified Material" and "CDs with classified materials (x2)." The same day, the head of the FBI unit that reviews documents for classification attached a memo saying three documents had been "identified that remain classified."

The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington (March 2026)

CBS's analysis of page-numbering gaps also suggests that tens of thousands of pages of Epstein's financial records, including about 66 of roughly 4,500 check images, and about 1.2 million pages in one section, mostly emails involving Epstein and his associates, were not released. "Financial records were not a permissible category for removal," said former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

The Justice Department has said it collected 6 million pages and released more than 3 million after reviewing them for duplication, privilege and relevance, and that the rest were unrelated, privileged or duplicative. It did not respond to CBS's latest inquiries. Journalist Katie Phang, who is suing the department for more files, is asking a court to appoint a special master.