The US Department of Justice has provoked a fierce political backlash after confirming it will not release the full cache of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by the deadline mandated in federal law. The move has been branded a clear violation of statute by senior legislators from both parties, who are now threatening legal action.
DoJ Admits to Partial Release, Prompting Legal Threats
In a television interview on Friday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the DoJ would release several hundred thousand documents that day, including photographs and investigative materials. However, he explicitly admitted this would not constitute the complete set of files held by the department.
"I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more," Blanche said. He justified the staggered approach by citing the need to protect victims, stating the department wanted to ensure it was "protecting every single victim" when producing the materials.
This planned delay directly contravenes the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Donald Trump on 19 November 2025. The law explicitly requires the Attorney General to make "all" relevant, unclassified records publicly available "not later than 30 days" after enactment.
Bipartisan Fury on Capitol Hill
The announcement triggered immediate and sharp condemnation from lawmakers. Top Democrats on the House oversight committee, Representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin, issued a joint statement declaring they were "examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law." They emphasised that survivors deserve justice and the American people deserve complete transparency.
The criticism was notably bipartisan. Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who has led the push for disclosure alongside Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, publicly highlighted the key phrases "not later than 30 days" and "all" from the text of the law on social media, underscoring the DoJ's failure to comply.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was even more direct, accusing the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi of being "hellbent on hiding the truth." He asserted that Senate Democrats were working with victims' attorneys and legal experts to assess what was being withheld and vowed they would "not stop until the whole truth comes out."
Victims' Advocates Express Disappointment
The reaction from those representing Epstein's survivors was one of profound disappointment mixed with cautious understanding. Jennifer Freeman, special counsel at the Marsh Law Firm who represents survivor Maria Farmer, said she was "very disappointed that the department will today release only about half of their materials."
She noted her client, Maria Farmer, has been waiting for her records for nearly 30 years, since first reporting Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes to the FBI in 1996. "Had the FBI done their job, nearly 1000 victims could have been spared, and 30 years of trauma avoided," Freeman stated.
The legal scholar Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University, summarised the prevailing legal opinion succinctly on social media, writing: "This is a violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act." The stage is now set for a potential legal confrontation between the legislative and executive branches of the US government over the pursuit of transparency in one of the most notorious criminal cases of modern times.
