They read the files. Nobody was charged.

What has happened since the law passed

• Thirty days, and no penalty for missing them.The Act permits withholding only while it stays "narrowly tailored and temporary." The deadline passed … days ago.

  Public Law 119-38

• 3.5 million pages out. About 2.5 million still held back.In a July 2026 court filing the department defended withholding the rest, in part to protect internal deliberations. Internal deliberations are not one of the exemptions the Act lists.

  DOJ releaseDOJ court filingExemptions in the Act

• A federal court ordered the department to justify its redactions.In June 2026 the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave it a deadline to release records unredacted or explain why they stay blacked out. The department is appealing.

  Court order

• Eight other countries and the EU opened inquiries off the same documents.At least nine in total, ranging from preliminary review to formal criminal investigation.

  International investigation countEU case confirmation

• The department says the review is over.On ABC's This Week in February 2026 the deputy attorney general said the examination "is over," and that the department cannot "come up with a case that isn't there." This is not a backlog. It is a finished file.

  Blanche on ABC This Week

• Not one new U.S. criminal charge.As of Aug. 25, 2026, none had resulted from the release.

  Current AP review

Ask what it takes to read three and a half million pages and charge nobody.