Two US House members, Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, 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.
In a letter to US district judge Paul Engelmayer on Thursday, the representatives criticised the justice department for failing to meet the 19 December deadline for full disclosure under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They described the department's conduct as a 'flagrant violation' of mandatory disclosure obligations and noted that previous court rulings had recognised the behaviour caused 'serious trauma to survivors'.
The letter highlighted a justice department court filing stating that 12,285 documents had been released, less than 1% of all related files, with 2 million more under review. Khanna and Massie cast doubt on these figures, suggesting the department may have overstated the scope of materials to portray compliance as unmanageable and delay disclosure.
The representatives also pointed to the justice department's failure to submit required reports to Congress within 15 days of the deadline, detailing redactions and withheld records. 'To date, no such report has been provided,' they said, adding that without it, effective oversight and judicial review are far more difficult.
Khanna and Massie requested that the special master be given authority to notify the court about the true extent of document production and any improper redactions or conduct. 'Absent an independent process... we do not believe the DOJ will produce the records that are required by the Act,' they concluded.
