President Donald Trump's acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has been sued over his alleged failure to release all government files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of journalist Katie Phang, accuses Blanche of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Lawsuit Details
The complaint, filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Blanche, who served as deputy attorney general and previously as Trump's personal lawyer, has not complied with the law. 'This case is about Defendant Todd Blanche’s brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,' the lawsuit states.
Last fall, a bipartisan push in Congress demanded the release of Epstein files after criticism of the Trump administration's lack of transparency. Trump was friends with Epstein decades ago but has not been formally accused of wrongdoing.
Background on Epstein
Epstein, a wealthy financier, pleaded guilty to sex crimes in Florida in 2008 and faced federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 before dying by suicide in a New York jail cell. The public has long sought information about his crimes and connections to the global elite.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed in November 2025, required the Department of Justice to release its Epstein files within 30 days. The DOJ belatedly released millions of documents but has been accused of withholding some. Blanche stated in a Fox News interview in early April that the DOJ released 'all the files with respect to the Epstein saga' and that the matter 'should not be a part of anything going forward.'
Allegations of Non-Compliance
The lawsuit claims that under former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche, the DOJ 'has failed to produce the required documents within the time required,' improperly redacted documents, and failed to explain redactions. It also alleges that some documents were retracted or not produced at all, violating the law. The Act allows redactions to protect victim identities, but news outlets reported that the DOJ included identifying information and nude photos of victims.
Phang, who has extensively reported on Epstein and his network, claims harm from the non-compliance. 'Phang’s inability to report with substance on all of the documents she should be able to access has hurt her ability to do her job,' the lawsuit states. She seeks production of all files with impermissible redactions removed and permissible redactions explained.
Phang, a former MS NOW anchor and current MeidasTouch Network contributor, announced the lawsuit in a video, saying, 'I rely on compliance with the law for me to be able to process, discern, research, and do further investigation... But when there is active concealment going on by way of violation of a federal statute, I cannot do my job as a journalist.' She also requested a court-appointed special master to oversee compliance, independent of the DOJ and victims, working for the American people.
Separately, the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General announced an audit of the agency's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, stating, 'Our preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act.'
