Resolution criteria

The Department of Justice has been given a 30-day deadline to release the documents, with files expected to be made public on or around December 19, 2025. This market resolves YES for each date if documents related to civil and criminal cases involving the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been substantially released to the public by that date. "Substantially released" means the DOJ has made available a meaningful portion of the files in searchable, downloadable format as required by the law, not merely token releases or heavily redacted materials.

Resolution sources: Check the Department of Justice press releases and the House Oversight Committee document repository for official releases.

The attorney general may withhold some documents, including records that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary." Withholding on these narrow grounds does not prevent a YES resolution, as the law explicitly permits such exceptions.

Background

Trump signed legislation to compel the Justice Department to release records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The House of Representatives voted 427–1 to pass the act on November 18, 2025, with Republican representative Clay Higgins casting the lone nay vote. Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, 2025.

In late February, Attorney General Pam Bondi released what she called the "first phase" of "declassified Epstein files" to conservative influencers. However, on July 7, Bondi released a statement saying that the U.S. Department of Justice found "no incriminating 'client list'", and that day, DOJ and the FBI announced that no further files from the Epstein investigation would be released. When it appeared the House would vote to release the files, Trump called for their release after lawmakers cleared a significant hurdle on November 12, netting 218 signatures on a petition to force a vote on a bill to release the files within 30 days.

Considerations

Much material is subject to court-ordered sealing — notably grand-jury transcripts and materials containing images or videos of abuse — and the DOJ has already sought judicial relief to unseal some grand-jury materials, underscoring that certain records may remain sealed unless a judge orders otherwise. Over the past week, three federal judges have ordered grand jury material from cases involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to be unsealed after the Justice Department renewed requests for the records to be made public following enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.