October 28, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT/ CBS News
Attorney General Todd Blanche has long maintained that the so-called Epstein files, even those kept from the public, contain no secret information related to national security.
When the document releases began last winter, Blanche noted that the Epstein Files Transparency Act authorized withholding information in the interest of national security or foreign policy, but said, "no files are being withheld or redacted on that basis."
"There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding, we're actually not withholding anything based upon [national defense information]," said Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time.
But the contents of at least three documents in the massive tranche of files indicate classified information was included in files collected by the DOJ.
One of the documents shows Blanche's Office of the Deputy Attorney General itself received classified material related to Epstein in March 2025. By law, material can only be classified for national security purposes.
What exactly was classified and why remains a mystery.
The Department of Justice says it collected 6 million pages of material and ultimatelyreleased over 3 millionof those pages after reviewing for duplication, attorney-client privilege and relevance to Jeffrey Epstein.
Congressional challenges and alawsuitare casting doubts on theDOJ's claimsand demanding the release ofmore documentsthat were held back.
Included among the Epstein files is aneight-page timelineof the FBI's New York office's initial efforts last year to track down and deliver its voluminous files to the Justice Department's Washington headquarters.
On March 25, 2025, one document shows delivery of "16 Epstein items to ODAG," referring to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Among them, items No. 2 and No. 6 are described as "Epstein Transparency Project - Classified Material" and "CDs with classified materials (x2)."
The Epstein Transparency Project refers to the Justice Department's effort to review the files andredact, withhold or clear them for release. It is not clear what exactly was identified as classified. Each CD was likely capable of holding hundreds of megabytes of material.
Also in the files is an email sent that same day from the unit chief of the National Security Classification Operations Unit — an office whose role is to review FBI documents for classification or declassification. The email includes an attachment labeled "Epstein - Classified Document Memo.docx."
The body of the email says there were three documents "identified that remain classified." One was described as an "FBI document which is classified when see-through." A redaction obscures the unit chief's description of the other two documents.
The identity of the email's recipient is also redacted.
