A lot of people have been asking the same question in the light of Donald Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law.
The Trump administration have been under an increasing amount of pressure to release almost all of the files the Department of Justice (DOJ) has on Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors in 2019.
Epstein never made it to trail though and was found dead in his cell on August 10 of the same year in an apparent suicide.
But Epstein’s alleged crimes long predated his 2019 charges. Police first opened a criminal investigation into the financier in 2005 after allegations came to light that he’d sexually abused underage girls.
He went on to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 in 2008 and, having agreed to a plea deal, was only sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
With the years-long investigations into Epstein in mind, there are thought to be thousands of files on Epstein. Trump and his administration have now agreed to release almost all the files.
Due to the nature of the investigation, some documents will not made public. The DOJ says the files contain a ‘large volume’ of images and videos of victims and other illegal child abuse material, BBC reports.
Now people are asking why it’s taken so long for the files to be released.
Somebody said: “If Trump’s name was all over the files, then why didn’t Biden release them?”
Echoing similar sentiments a different penned: “Why didn’t Biden release the Epstein files?”
Elsewhere US Representative Tim Burchett tweeted: “The Democrats had the Epstein Files for 4 years and never raised the issue and blocked every attempt to release them. 3 Democrat appointed Judges blocked it.”
But politics has nothing to do with why the Epstein files weren’t released earlier; it’s because the investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (who was convicted in 2022) were still active while Biden was in office.
Explaining this, investigative journalist Julie K. Brown replied to Burchett: “Again…the Epstein case was still an OPEN criminal investigation during the Biden administration.”
Again…the Epstein case was still an OPEN criminal investigation during the Biden administration. They had an open grand jury … And even after Maxwell’s conviction, the case was on appeal — anyone in law enforcement knows you don’t open your case file when it’s still under…
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) November 17, 2025
She continued: “They had an open grand jury … And even after Maxwell’s conviction, the case was on appeal – anyone in law enforcement knows you don’t open your case file when it’s still under appeal.
“There were still victims going to the FBI with new information. That changed when Trump’s DOJ reviewed the files and closed the case in July.”
Backing Brown’s remarks, PBS says that an attorney general can withhold information that ‘would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary’.
Merrick Garland (who was Biden’s attorney general) has claimed to have had no knowledge of the notorious Epstein files after being subpoenaed by The House Oversight Committee earlier this year.
The subpoena has since been withdrawn.