The Department of Justice on Friday released some long-awaited files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but did not release everything in its possession as required by a law Congress passed last month. The partial release drew swift rebukes from Capitol Hill and threats of legal action.
Speaking in an interview on Fox News on Friday morning, the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said: “I expect we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein”.
However, he said that he expected that Friday’s release would not include the full set of the Epstein files held by the Department of Justice.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” Blanche said. “There’s a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim.”
Blanche’s comments drew sharp rebuke from Capitol Hill, where top legislators threatened legal action “in the face of this violation of federal law”.
The delay in releasing all the files appears to go against the language of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by Donald Trump on 19 November.
Representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin, top Democrats on the House oversight committee, released a statement on Friday afternoon that said: “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law. The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DoJ.”
The law mandates the release of all of the department’s documents related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein within 30 days of the date the law was enacted, with exceptions to only withhold files that contact certain information such as personal information of victims and materials that would impede an ongoing investigation or national security.
Following Blanche’s remarks, Thomas Massie, the Republican representative who has spearheaded the effort in Congress to release the files alongside Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, posted an image of the text of the law on X.
In the post, Massie highlighted the phrase “not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this act” as well as the word “all” in the sentence that reads: “Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, subject to subsection (b), make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice”.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, also released a statement in response to Blanche’s comments.
“The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be the Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some,” Schumer said. “Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth.
“Senate Democrats are working closely with attorneys for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and with outside legal experts to assess what documents are being withheld and what is being covered up by Pam Bondi,” he added. “We will not stop until the whole truth comes out.”
Jennifer Freeman, special counsel at Marsh Law Firm represents the Epstein survivor Maria Farmer in her suit against the federal government. Freeman said in a statement: “I am pleased to hear that the Department of Justice is being careful to protect survivors. Yet I am very disappointed that the department will today release only about half of their materials, particularly because this release has been amply anticipated for a very long time.
“Regardless, I look forward to finally seeing what I hope are the complete files of the survivors, including my client, Maria Farmer, who has been waiting for her records for nearly 30 years, since 1996 when she first reported Epstein and Maxwell’s child sex abuse, sex trafficking, and child pornography crimes to the FBI,” she said. “Had the FBI done their job, nearly 1,000 victims could have been spared, and 30 years of trauma avoided.”
On social media, Ryan Goodman, a legal scholar and a law professor at New York University, echoed the sentiment, writing: “This is a violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Victoria Bekiempis contributed reporting
