Not only did the Justice Department fail to provide all its files on the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, but the documents it did release represent just a fraction of what it has, according to the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
Soon after the department published the records, Rep. Robert Garcia told CNN “this is absolutely breaking the law.” That’s after an overwhelmingly bipartisan act of Congress last month required all the Epstein files to be disclosed by Friday.
“It could be that they that we’re only getting about 10% of what the DOJ has,” he added. “And of that 10%, 5% of that has already been released, and the other 5% is highly redacted. So we’re getting very little.”
Garcia said he’s also been in contact with Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, noting that they agree they will “likely have to take legal action if the Trump administration continues to stonewall.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In early, overnight hours on Saturday, the DOJ released a few more batches of files that include some court documents, photos and memos.
Earlier, it said on X that it hasn’t redacted any names of politicians, pointing to comments from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“The only redactions being applied to the documents are those required by law — full stop,” he said. “Consistent with the statute and applicable laws, we are not redacting the names of individuals or politicians unless they are a victim.”
A spokesperson for Garcia didn’t immediately respond to a request for an update on the percentage of files that have been made public so far.
In addition to withholding files, the Justice Department also appeared to remove a photo with President Donald Trump that had been released on Friday.
That’s in contrast with White House officials highlighting photos of former President Bill Clinton that are in the document dump.
Meanwhile, the congressmen who led the effort to release the Epstein files have also warned of potential legal action due to the Justice Department’s continued failure to put out all the documents.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., pointed out that the Epstein Files Transparency Act directs DOJ to provide internal communications about their decisions, then shared a portion of a DOJ letter to Congress that asserts its privilege to omit those materials.
“THEY ARE FLAUNTING LAW,” he posted on X on Saturday.
In a separate post on Friday, Massie highlighted the criminal statute on obstruction of justice along with the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s language prohibiting the redaction of records on the basis of “embarrassment, repetitional harm, or political sensitivity.”
“A future DOJ could convict the current AG and others because the Epstein Files Transparency Act is not like a Congressional Subpoena which expires at the end of each Congress,” he warned.
Also on Friday, Rep. Ro Khanna said the Justice Department wasn’t complying with the spirit or the letter of the law.
The California Democrat added that he and Massie have already started working on drafting articles of impeachment and inherent contempt against Attorney General Pam Bondi, though they haven’t decided yet whether to move forward.
“Impeachment is a political decision and is there the support in the House of Representatives? I mean Massie and I aren’t going to just do something for the show of it,” Khanna told CNN.
