The Justice Department is under fire over its initial release of files related to the serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after it failed to publish thousands of documents ahead of last Friday’s congressionally imposed deadline. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the delay was due to the time it takes to carefully redact the names of Epstein’s victims from hundreds of thousands of documents, and said the missing documents would eventually be made public, on a rolling basis. The delay drew criticism from Epstein survivors and members of Congress. On Sunday, California Democrat Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, said they’ll seek to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress. Some Democrats said they’re considering filing articles of impeachment against Bondi.
Of the pages turned over so far, more than 500 were entirely redacted, including all 119 pages of a document labeled “Grand Jury-NY.” Meanwhile, at least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage over the weekend before reappearing amid a public outcry. The files included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a photograph of Trump alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. This is Sky Roberts, the brother of Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, whose death last April was ruled a suicide.
Sky Roberts: “You know, to be honest, in reviewing the documents that have been released, at least the first gauge, and what we understand is that it’s about 10%. And so, you look at it, and you say, ‘Well, I thought we asked for all the documents. I thought that this bill sort of alluded to the fact that we should be getting everything released.’ And so, there’s also this mixed feeling of: What are we hiding here?”
After headlines, we’ll speak with Congressmember Ro Khanna of California, who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
