Well over 2 million Epstein files remain hidden (Jan 2026)

The news today, 31 January 2006, is that all the Epstein files have been released (31st Jan 2026). The Times tells me that 3 million files have been released which Todd Blanche, the US Deputy Attorney General, said complies with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed in November mandating the release of all the files.

But The Times newspaper goes on to say that in all there are 6 million files. To quote, "At a press conference yesterday, Todd Blanche, the US Deputy Attorney General, said that more than 500 lawyers had worked to review more than 6 million pages before deciding what to release."

In other words they looked at 6 million files or sheets of paper containing data and decided according to this report to release half of them namely 3 million subject to earlier releases (see below). Either I'm missing something or the news media have got this wrong. It appears that the authorities are still withholding a vast number of Epstein files.

If the universe of material is roughly 6 million files or pages, and the latest tranche is about 3 million, then even after adding the earlier December releases which were only hundreds of thousands at most, you are still left with well over 2 million items not yet disclosed.

In addition, many of or most if not all of the files released have been redacted in some way sometimes totally so that all one sees as a sheet of paper which is entirely black.

To redact the entire page is a complete waste of time and also confuses me because it is the opposite to being transparent. If the entire page is redacted it is not information that's being released to the public is it?

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.