US congressmen ask judge to appoint official to force release of all Epstein files

Two US House of Representatives members have asked a federal judge to appoint a special master to compel the justice department to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

On Thursday, Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California and Republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky asked US district judge Paul Engelmayer to release the full Epstein files, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Criticizing the justice department for not releasing the full set of files on last year’s 19 December deadline, Khanna and Massie in a letter said: “The conduct by the DOJ is not only a flagrant violation of the mandatory disclosure obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but as this Court has recognized in its previous rulings, the behavior by the DOJ has caused serious trauma to survivors.

“As the leads of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, we have urgent and grave concerns about DOJ’s failure to comply with the Act as well as the Department’s violations of this Court’s order,” the representatives said, adding: “Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act.”

Pointing to a justice department court filing earlier this week stating that 12,285 documents have been released – marking less than 1% of all related files – and that 2 million more are under review, Khanna and Massie casted doubt on those figures.

“Because these figures are self-reported and internally inconsistent with prior representations, there is reasonable suspicion that the DOJ has overstated the scope of responsive materials, thereby portraying compliance as unmanageable and effectively delaying disclosure,” they said in the letter.

Khanna and Massie also pointed to the justice department’s failure to submit required reports within 15 days of the deadline to the House and Senate judiciary committees detailing redactions and other records withheld from release.

“To date, no such report has been provided. Without it, there is no authoritative accounting of what records exist, what has been withheld, or why, making effective oversight and judicial review far more difficult,” they said.

As part of their request, Khanna and Massie asked Engelmayer to allow the independent monitor to be given authority to notify the court “about the true nature and extent of the document production and if improper redactions or other improper conduct is taking place”.

“Absent an independent process, as outlined above, we do not believe the DOJ will produce the records that are required by the Act and what it has represented to this Court,” the representatives said.