The U.S. Department of Justice has released the Epstein file, but 550 pages are completely censored.

The U.S. Department of Justice released thousands of new documents related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, but 550 pages are completely censored, which has drawn criticism from some politicians. The documents contain photographs of notable individuals from Epstein's circle and details about serious allegations against him, but entire pages are anonymized, which has sparked protests from both Democrats and Republicans. A set of three documents totaling 255 pages is completely anonymized, and another document of 119 pages is also completely anonymized. Critics, including representatives from Congress, argue that the censorship of the documents violates a recently passed law that mandates transparency. Although the Department of Justice claims that the anonymizations comply with the law, some lawmakers, including Republicans, say that the documents do not respect the spirit of the law. The Senate has also requested explanations regarding the complete anonymization of certain documents. Despite the criticism, the Department of Justice maintains that censoring many passages and pages from the Epstein file was necessary to protect the personal information of survivors and to avoid compromising active investigations.