It has been one month since the Department of Justice was expected to release all files related to the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Nearly four weeks later, the public has seen little movement. The most recent document release occurred 27 days ago, just a few days after the deadline. According to the DOJ, just 1% of the total records have made it into the public domain. The are reportedly upwards of two million files that should be published under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, even with redactions. Whether additional information will be made public, and when, remains uncertain according to recent letters filed in federal court by the DOJ.
In a letter submitted to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who oversaw Ghislaine Maxwell's trial, Attorney General Pam Bondi argued that federal courts lack the authority to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The bill was signed into law by President Trump in November.
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Judge Engelmayer had previously stayed out of document release decisions as recently as last summer. He denied the release of all grand jury materials related to the Maxwell case. That changed after the law was enacted, when he ordered its release.
The DOJ now contends that the court cannot mandate enforcement of the law.
"The Act does not provide a cause of action," Bondi wrote, adding that the court may not "create" one "through judicial mandate."
The Justice Department's letter also argues that Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, the bipartisan lawmakers who authored the bill, lack legal standing to request an independent monitor to oversee its enforcement.
In response, Massie criticized the administration's position in a post on X, asking: "Why is this administration working harder to hide the Epstein files than prior administrations did to cover up Iran-Contra and Watergate?"
The letter opposing court enforcement followed another DOJ communication, also addressed to Judge Engelmayer, stating that the department is working "around the clock" to prepare documents for release.
According to the DOJ, hundreds of staffers are currently reviewing the files to redact sensitive information before they are made public. They said last week they added 80 additional attorneys to make the redactions who are working around the clock. Still, even in that letter, they gave no timeline for expected release of any files.
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