Top lawmakers are threatening legal and contempt actions against the Justice Department for releasing only partial, heavily redacted files on Jeffrey Epstein, missing a congressionally mandated deadline.
DOJ Defends Epstein File Rollout as Schumer, Bipartisan Lawmakers Demand Full Release (Image: X)
A political storm is brewing over the Justice Department's release of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, declared he will force a Senate vote to challenge the DOJ for allegedly violating the law by not making all of its documents about the deceased financier available to the public.
According to Senator Schumer, a resolution for the Senate to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice is being introduced. He claims the DOJ showed "blatant disregard of the law" by providing heavily redacted files and withholding evidence. Schumer plans to bring the measure for consideration when the Senate reconvenes on January 5th.
The anger stems from a law signed by President Donald Trump in November. It gave the Attorney General 30 days to make all unclassified DOJ records on Epstein publicly available. When the December 19th deadline passed, the department released only a portion of the files. Bipartisan lawmakers who authored the law, Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, also plan action in the House, with Massie suggesting contempt proceedings.
A group representing Epstein's victims issued a strong statement, saying the public received "a fraction of the files" with "abnormal and extreme redactions." They noted that while information was heavily censored, some victim identities were mistakenly left exposed, causing harm. The group agrees the DOJ "violated the law" and is urging immediate congressional hearings and legal action.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged the department missed the legal deadline. He defended the delay, stating over 200 lawyers are working to redact information to protect victims' identities, which the law also requires. The DOJ released a fact sheet insisting no redactions are made to protect famous or politically connected individuals, only victims and privileged material.
The situation escalated when the DOJ temporarily removed a photo that included Donald Trump from its online database. This sparked accusations the department was attempting to cover for the president. The DOJ stated the photo was pulled for review after victim rights groups expressed concerns about other individuals in the image. After determining no victims were depicted, the unaltered photo was reposted.
A: He is introducing a resolution to have the Senate itself take the DOJ to court for not fully complying with the law to release all Epstein-related documents.
A: The DOJ states it is legally required to redact names and details of victims and minors, and that reviewing thousands of documents for this is a time-consuming process.
A: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said he expects the full release to be completed within two weeks.
A: No. Criticism of the DOJ's handling of the release is coming from both prominent Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
