House Judiciary Committee Democrats are requesting an “urgent” review of the unredacted Epstein files from the Justice Department to evaluate compliance with federal law — a day after the department released a trove of documents and said it had fully satisfied its obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
In a letter to the DOJ, ranking committee member Jamie Raskin cited the department’s claims to have identified over 6 million pages but made only half of them public.
“We seek to ensure that your redactions comply with the act’s requirement that materials be withheld only in narrow circumstances, such as protecting victims’ personally identifiable information, and not on the basis of ‘embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,’” the Maryland Democrat said in the letter.
The documents related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have roused Democrats as the Justice Department slowly releases its documents.
At a Friday press conference, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “if any member of Congress wishes to review any portions of the response of production in any unredacted form, they’re welcome to make arrangements with the department to do so, and we’re happy to do that.”
In the letter addressed to Mr. Blanche, the committee’s Democrats said they intend to seize this opportunity.
This comes ahead of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s anticipated hearing before the committee.
Mr. Raskin said in the letter that it’s vital to review the unredacted files to “evaluate the lawfulness and appropriateness of your redactions and to examine the Attorney General about them.”
“When we said that we were not legally allowed to release documents, that’s a fact,” Mr. Blanche said Friday. “That was true, it remains true today, and then with the act’s passage, we are now able and directed to release documents, which is what we are doing.”
The lead sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act formally requested access to the unredacted documents on Friday to “fulfill Congress’ oversight responsibilities” and ensure that survivors “receive the transparency and accountability they deserve.”
“We have seen a blanket approach to redactions in some areas, while in other cases, victim names were not redacted at all,” Reps. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, California Democrat, wrote to Mr. Blanche. “Congress cannot properly assess the Department’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases without access to the complete record.”
The bipartisan duo made requests for access to the emails and documents from Epstein’s email accounts; victim interviews from the Florida investigation and investigations in New York; and the draft indictment and prosecution memorandum prepared during the Florida investigation.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse ridiculed the latest release of files, “sold as transparency, but what it actually does is expose survivors.”
They added in a statement, “Once again, survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed, while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. That is outrageous. This is a betrayal of the very people this process is supposed to serve.”
They said the Justice Department cannot claim it’s finished releasing files “until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed.”
