FBI Director Kash Patel claimed that the Epstein estate has refused to hand over documents to the agency.
In an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, Patel said the government and late financier's estate have "separate boxes" of information, which limits how the FBI can access the records to review a new referral in the Epstein case, according to a Newsweek report published Tuesday.
He said the FBI has asked repeatedly for these materials and has not been successful.
The FBI will apparently determine next steps for how it can obtain these items, he said.
"Based on the new referral, we'll take a look at that and see what evidence comes, but there's an important distinction. The information that the government possesses versus the information that the Epstein estate possesses, those are two separate boxes of information and the Epstein estate has not been willing to share information with the US government ... even though we've requested them to do so," Patel said.