Was there an investigation that caused the epstein files to be classified under bidens presidency
Executive summary
Public reporting shows no evidence that an “investigation” during President Biden’s term is what caused Epstein-related files to be classified or withheld; instead federal agencies — including the Biden Justice Department and earlier administrations — cited ongoing investigations, legal privacy protections, and litigation as reasons for redactions or non‑disclosure [1] [2]. Multiple outlets note that broad troves of records existed across administrations (more than 100,000 pages cited) and that courts and DOJ decisions — not a single Biden‑era directive to “classify” the files — shaped what stayed sealed [3] [2].
1. What the record actually shows about Biden, investigations and the files
Reporting and fact‑checks say the major Epstein criminal investigations occurred in 2006–08 and again in 2019, not under Presidents Obama or Biden, and there is no evidence those presidents or ex‑FBI director James Comey “made up” or intentionally classified the Epstein files; PolitiFact and Poynter conclude that claims blaming Obama/Biden/Comey are false [1] [4]. Newsweek and Poynter report that the Justice Department and FBI collectively held large volumes of material — court records, grand jury testimony, seized evidence — and that legal limits and ongoing probes were invoked to keep material sealed while investigations or prosecutions were active [3] [2].
2. Why material remained sealed or redacted during the Biden administration
Reporting explains that DOJ under Biden told courts it was withholding Epstein‑related materials under legal exemptions (for example FOIA Exemption 7(A)) to avoid harming “ongoing criminal investigation[s] of Jeffrey Epstein and others,” and that the same legal reasoning allows narrowly tailored redactions where disclosure could jeopardize active investigations — not a blanket political coverup [2]. Newsweek similarly frames the withholding as likely driven by legal and privacy constraints rather than a simple refusal by Biden’s team to “turn over a single file” [3].
3. Legislative and executive actions after Biden — and what they change
In late 2025 Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act to compel DOJ to release unclassified investigative files within a 30‑day window, with statutory carve‑outs for ongoing investigations, classified national‑security information, child‑exploitation materials and victim identifiers; the law directs DOJ to declassify to the maximum extent possible but permits narrowly tailored temporary redactions [5] [2]. News coverage of the bill’s passage and President Trump’s signing emphasizes that the statute still preserves a DOJ escape hatch for material connected to active probes [5] [6].
4. Competing political narratives about responsibility and timing
Political actors disagree about who bears blame for files not being public earlier. Some Republicans and commentators argue Democrats could have pushed for public release during Biden’s term and accuse them of hypocrisy; Democrats and survivors’ advocates counter that courts and DOJ legal constraints — and ongoing victim privacy and investigative interests — limited what could be released [7] [8]. Coverage of President Trump’s public statements that Obama and Biden “made up” the files is explicitly contradicted by fact‑checkers, who find the timeline doesn’t support those claims [4] [1].
5. What remains uncertain or not covered in available reporting
Available sources do not mention any specific newly disclosed internal DOJ memo or a Biden‑era executive order that reclassified Epstein materials in bulk; they also do not provide a comprehensive item‑by‑item inventory of what documents were withheld at each point and why beyond general legal rationales [2] [3]. Detailed forensic timelines tying particular withheld pages to particular legal claims are not included in the cited reporting [2].
6. Practical takeaway for readers evaluating claims
When politicians assert that Biden “caused” files to be classified, the record in mainstream reporting and fact‑checks does not support that framing: reporting cites legal exemptions and ongoing investigations as the proximate reasons for non‑disclosure, and fact‑checkers say claims that Obama/Biden/ Comey “made up” the files are false [1] [4] [2]. Still, the recent law and political fight over release show the issue is intensely politicized: Congress has forced a disclosure process, but the statute itself retains narrowly tailored redaction rights that echo arguments DOJ made during the Biden era [5] [2].