Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the lead author of the law requiring the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release the full files on Jeffrey Epstein, is sounding early alarms about the agency’s initial disclosures.
In a Zoom call with reporters Friday afternoon, Khanna questioned the “quality” of the information; redactions he deemed to be heavy-handed; and the absence of an explanation for those redactions, as required by the law.
“I reserve judgment until we see all of the release,” he said. “[But] things seem very heavily redacted, and it’s unclear what is actually new information, and it’s unclear whether the key documents are in there, which shows the guilt of other rich and powerful men in aiding what Epstein did or covering it up.”
Khanna also floated a menu of remedial steps Congress could take — including impeachment of Attorney General Pam Bondi and other DOJ officials — if there’s evidence that the administration is redacting or withholding information to protect those who abetted, or participated in, Epstein’s crimes.
“[Rep.] Thomas Massie and I will continue to explore all options to fight to make sure that they comply with the law, whether that is holding people in inherent contempt, recommending people for prosecution, recommending impeachment, or private lawsuits,” he said, referring to the Kentucky Republican who was also instrumental in getting the law passed over the opposition of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders.
Under the law, DOJ officials had 30 days to release all the government’s case files on Epstein, the deceased child sex offender, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse minors.
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, announced Friday morning that the department would not meet that deadline because the process of redacting names to protect victims and other innocent people was too time-consuming to meet it. Instead, the DOJ would release “several hundred thousand” documents Friday, followed by hundreds of thousands more in the weeks to come.
Khanna said he was “disappointed” with the incomplete rollout. But he’s less concerned about the delay than the prospect that the administration is simply “stonewalling” to protect powerful allies. He’s calling on Bondi and Blanche to address the public to explain what exactly they’ve released already and lay out a timeline for what’s to come.
“The Justice Department has very little credibility,” Khanna said. “Pam Bondi said months ago there was nothing more to release. Now they’ve contradicted themselves. Obviously there was more to release given that they’re releasing hundreds of thousands of new documents.
“The question is: How do we believe them?”
Khanna acknowledged that he would never know for sure if the DOJ had released the full set of files in its possession. But he said there are enough people with insights into the documents — including the victims themselves — to get a good read on the administration’s compliance.
“Obviously, we can’t be sure if it’s fully comprehensive. But there are a lot of survivors’ lawyers who have seen many of the key documents,” he said. “And if those names are not coming out there, if those witness interviews are not coming out there, we know it’s an incomplete release.”
