ISTANBUL

Only 6% of Americans are satisfied with the release of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while most believe the government is intentionally withholding information, according to a recent CNN poll.

Despite a law passed by Congress, the Justice Department says it has released less than 1% of the documents it is legally required to disclose.

The poll was taken just weeks after the Dec. 19 deadline Congress set for the department to release all files related to Epstein, who died in 2019.

In early January, the department estimated it had disclosed less than 1% of the records, and officials told a court Friday that about 80 additional criminal division attorneys had been assigned to help prosecutors in New York’s Southern District review the documents.

In early January, the department estimated that it had disclosed less than 1% of the records, and officials told a court Friday that about 80 additional criminal division attorneys had been assigned to help prosecutors in New York’s Southern District review the documents, CNN reported.

About two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government is deliberately withholding Epstein-related information that should be made public, while only 16% think officials are doing all they can to release everything. The rest say they haven’t heard enough to weigh in.

Around 9 in 10 Democrats and 72% of independents say the government is deliberately withholding information, along with 42% of Republicans, members of President Donald Trump’s party. Only about a third of Republicans think officials are trying to release what they can, while the rest are undecided.

Overall, just 6% of Americans are satisfied with the disclosures so far — little changed from July 2025 — while 49% are dissatisfied, and the remainder say it doesn’t matter to them or they haven’t heard enough.

Satisfaction is highest among Republicans (12%), compared to just 3% each among Democrats and independents.

Republicans have increasingly brushed off the issue, with 67% saying it doesn’t matter or they haven’t heard enough — up from 56% last summer — while dissatisfaction fell to 21% from 40%. Democrats have shifted the other way, with 71% now dissatisfied, up from 56% in July, and fewer withholding an opinion (27%, down from 41%).

Views among political independents have largely held steady, with 54% dissatisfied and 43% expressing no opinion.

Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.