Katie Phang, an investigative journalist and legal analyst, has filed a lawsuit against acting attorney general Todd Blanche, alleging that the Department of Justice (DoJ) is in “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of a transparency law requiring the release of all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to hold Blanche personally responsible for the DoJ’s failure to publish the full Epstein files as mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress in November with a deadline of 19 December 2025.
Phang’s lawsuit accuses Blanche of missing statutory deadlines, improper or excessive redactions, failure to explain redactions, and withholding or retracting key documents after release. Blanche has argued that redactions were necessary to protect the identities of Epstein’s victims, many of whom were minors, and has conceded that “mistakes are inevitable”. However, critics, including Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin, have noted “tons of completely unnecessary redactions” and failures to redact victims’ names in some instances.
The DoJ has released only a fraction of the documents, with Democrats claiming millions of pages are still withheld. In February, Blanche declared the investigation over after releasing about 3 million previously unseen papers, but critics accused the department of a “full-blown cover up”. The DoJ’s Office of the Inspector General has launched its own audit into compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Phang, a reporter with MeidasTouch, seeks a court declaration that the DoJ violated the law, an order for full release without unlawful redactions, an explanation for any remaining redactions, and the appointment of an independent special master to oversee compliance. The lawsuit argues that the transparency law was intended to aid journalists and the public, and that incomplete records harm Phang’s ability to report on Epstein’s network and the government’s handling of the case.
Epstein died by suicide in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence. The lawsuit is the latest effort to enforce the act, authored by Democratic congressman Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie. A hearing date has not yet been set.
