After missing deadline, DOJ says it may need a ‘few more weeks’ to finish releasing Epstein files

The coverage treats the DOJ’s “few more weeks” as a bureaucratic hiccup, as if this is just another paperwork problem. But when the subject is Epstein, delay is not neutral. It deepens suspicion that Washington’s default instinct is to protect itself first and inform the public later.

Finding “more than a million documents” after a congressional deadline strains credulity. Either record management is broken, or internal incentives favor slow-walking anything that could embarrass powerful people. In either case, the public is asked to accept institutional incompetence as an excuse for missed accountability.

Conservatives aren’t demanding theatrics. We are demanding rule of law, public trust, and a process that distinguishes between legitimate privacy concerns and reflexive secrecy. If DOJ needs time, it should offer a concrete release schedule, clear redaction standards, and consequences for noncompliance. The principle at stake is simple: a government that can’t meet deadlines in a case like this can’t credibly ask citizens for confidence elsewhere.