WASHINGTON — The Justice Department released thousands of documents and hundreds of photographs related to investigations of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, the long-awaited result of months of public and political pressure on the White House.

The full significance of the release, hours before a deadline set by Congress expired, was not immediately clear, given the volume of the new material and how much was previously disclosed. And because the Justice Department was allowed to withhold some documents by citing ongoing investigations or national security concerns, the new documents seemed as likely to reignite the furor over the so-called Epstein files as quell it. Some Democratic leaders criticized the administration for withholding many documents.

An initial review of the files showed numerous photographs of people known to have associated with Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton; Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his prince title because of his association with Epstein; and pop stars like Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger. The context of the photographs, the locations where they were taken and their connection to Epstein were frequently unclear.

President Donald Trump’s name was rarely mentioned in the batch of files released Friday, based on a preliminary New York Times scan of thousands of documents. There were a handful of references to or images of Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years. Most of the photos were already public, including shots of him and Melania Trump with Epstein and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, now imprisoned for helping Epstein traffic young women. Written references to Trump came up in Epstein’s address book and flight logs, as well as a message book in which Epstein’s assistants let him know about missed phone calls. Versions of those documents were already public.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had said Friday morning that the administration would release “several hundred thousand documents” but that “several hundred thousand more” would be made public in the next couple of weeks.

In a letter to members of Congress, Blanche said that the Justice Department had identified 1,200 names of victims of Epstein or their relatives, and that it had redacted or withheld any materials that could reveal their identities.

In the letter, Blanche wrote that “the volume of materials to be reviewed” would lead to the release of more documents, and that the Justice Department “will inform Congress when that review and production are complete by the end of this year.”

One of the redacted files, coming in at 119 pages and titled “Grand Jury NY,” is entirely blacked out. The Justice Department went into federal court twice in Manhattan seeking the release of grand jury materials arising from the investigation into Epstein and Maxwell.

Even though a judge agreed to the department’s second request, it appeared as if the grand jury materials remain shielded from the public.