Senate minority leader Chuck criticized the Justice Department for failing to release all the material in the Epstein files.
"Simply releasing a mountain of blacked out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law," he said in a statement. "For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out. We need answers as to why."
The law passed by a large majority of Congress and signed by President Trump calls for the complete release of the Epstein files in a searchable format.
"Senate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable. We will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out," Schumer's statement added.
The White House said the release of the Epstein files showed that President Donald Trump's administration was the "most transparent in history," while criticizing Democrats for ties to the late financier.
"By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, multiple Democratic Party lawmakers denounced the partial release of the files, accusing the Department of Justice of breaking the law by not releasing all documents.
The Department of Justice had discovered over 1,200 victims and their families during an exhaustive review, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a letter to Congress published by the Fox broadcaster.
According to the letter, the department redacted the names of the victims, as well as information that could lead to their identification.
Prosecutors are able to withhold information related to active investigations.
In a privacy notice accompanying released files, the Department of Justice called for members of the public to notify authorities if they identify any information that should not have been posted.
The Department of Justice has released four data sets containing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
You can view the files here, here, here and here on the Department of Justice's website for what it calls the "Epstein Library."
The US Justice Department has begun releasing files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The documents are expected to reveal further details on Epstein's connections to powerful people, including politicians and business figures.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier in the day that several hundred thousand documents would be released on Friday.
Documents related to Jeffrey Epstein are to be released by the Justice Department by midnight local time (0500 UTC).
The deadline is stipulated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on November 19 after a near-unanimous vote in Congress.
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that not all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein will be released on Friday despite a legal deadline calling for just that.
Blanche told the conservative Fox News broadcaster that several hundred thousand documents would be released on Friday.
"Over the next couple of weeks … I expect several hundred thousand more" will be released, Blanche said.
Blanche's comments were met with fierce criticism by multiple lawmakers.
"The Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law," the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement.
Democratic lawmakers Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia released a joint statement accusing Trump and the Department of Justice of "violating federal law," adding that they were "examining all legal options" to deal with the alleged violation.
Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced late last month she would resign in January over disagreements with the Trump administration, also urged the release of all of the files.
"My goodness, what is in the Epstein files? Release all the files. It’s literally the law," she said in a post on X.
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A deadline is approaching for the US Justice Department to release documents related to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The deadline was established by The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump in late November after the bill passed Congress in a near-unanimous vote.
Democratic lawmakers published 68 images from the Epstein estate ahead of the deadline.
Releasing documents related to Epstein was one of Trump's campaign promises during the November 2024 election, which he later attempted to downplay early in his term, a move that sparked an outcry from his own base.
Stay with us for DW's coverage of the Epstein-related documents and their release.
