FBI Director Kash Patel has suggested that the real holdup in the Epstein records saga isn’t coming from inside the government—it’s coming from Jeffrey Epstein’s own estate. In a new interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, Patel said investigators have been repeatedly denied access to key materials that the estate continues to hold back.
Patel said the government and the estate essentially live in different information worlds, each keeping its own “separate boxes” of Epstein-related documents. And right now, one of those boxes is locked.
“Based on the new referral, we’ll take a look at that and see what evidence comes, but there’s an important distinction. The information that the government possesses versus the information that the Epstein estate possesses, those are two separate boxes of information and the Epstein estate has not been willing to share information with the U.S. government…and so even though we’ve requested them to do so,” he said on Catherine Herridge Reports, according to Newsweek.
The comments cut straight into the political heat surrounding the long-promised release of the “Epstein files.” President Trump has insisted the documents would be made public, even signing a bill that forces their release within 30 days. But so far, the DOJ and FBI have said they have nothing left to give—an announcement that infuriated MAGA conservatives and Democrats alike.
Pressed on why the files still aren’t public, Patel said he’s working with the Justice Department to determine what can legally be released, noting that some details are still classified. He promised to minimize redactions, saying: “We have in our productions to Congress, which have been historic to this year, and we will treat every matter in the same fashion while upholding, always, victims’ rights.”
Herridge also asked him about the DOJ probe launched in recent weeks into ties between Democrats and former President Bill Clinton. Was the investigation aimed at Democrats specifically? Patel kept his answer tight: “We’ll just follow the facts.”
Some files have already surfaced through the House Oversight Committee. But Patel says the rest remains off-limits, despite repeated calls from Congress to make everything public.
Democrats argue that both the estate and the Trump administration are dragging their feet. California Rep. Garcia told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on November 17: “We’re fighting to ensure that those documents are released. And by the way, Republicans have tried to stall every single time they get more documents. They’ve not wanted to release them. We have, we’re working with the Epstein estate. We expect even more documents to come out from the Epstein estate. But we also know that what the DOJ has is enormous. It is dramatically more documents, photos, possibly videos that the Epstein estate does not have. And so that’s what we need, and Pam Bondi should release those files now.”
Trump ramped up expectations again recently on Truth Social, writing: “Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, because I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!”
But the DOJ files remain sealed, and the estate’s documents remain untouched by federal investigators.
Patel’s comments hint that the Trump administration is still scrambling for explanations on why the Epstein files remain sealed. Meanwhile, the public is left waiting for a story that clearly exists — locked in boxes no one in power seems willing to crack open.
