Democrats are sharpening their knives for Trump’s DOJ after a suspiciously Trump-free Epstein files dump on Friday.
“Thomas Massie and I are drafting articles of impeachment and inherent contempt,” said Rep. Ro Khanna of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday’s The Source with Kaitlin Collins. “We haven’t decided whether to move it forward yet.”
Khanna, a co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act along with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, said he and Massie had their sights set on top DOJ brass after Friday’s heavily redacted, Clinton-forward Epstein files dump.
The release did not include all of the Epstein files. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that more documents will drop over the coming weeks—an apparent violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required all the files to be released by Dec. 19.
“The issue for her is not, ‘are there 212 Democrats who would support it?’” continued Khanna, 49. “The issue is how many Republicans and MAGA supporters would support it. My hope is, she looks at the outrage that MAGA has, she looks at the disappointment the survivors have, and makes a decision over the next two weeks to release these documents. She may lose more Republicans than she anticipates.”
An impeachment effort against Bondi, Blanche, and any other DOJ brass would test the loyalty of congressional Republicans, the majority of whom didn’t sign the discharge petition forcing the Epstein Files Transparency Act vote, but almost unanimously voted to pass it.
Minutes earlier on CNN’s AC360, Khanna made a similar threat, saying, “Any justice department official who has obstructed justice could face prosecution in this administration or a future administration.”
“[Blanche’s] production violates the spirit of the law, and it violates the letter of the law, and it’s a slap in the face of survivors,” he added.
Friday’s release came after weeks of reports that the Department of Justice was scrambling to scrub the Epstein files under little legal guidance.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act states that the DOJ “is permitted to withhold certain information such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation.”
It also says, “not later than 15 days after the required publication, DOJ must report to Congress (1) all categories of information released and withheld, (2) a summary of any redactions made, and (3) a list of all government officials and politically exposed individuals named or referenced in the published materials.”
Friday’s DOJ release included entire pages of redacted text and some photographs where the only person in the picture was blacked out. The photos that were released heavily featured former President Bill Clinton, 79, and other celebrities partying with Epstein and redacted women, raising questions about the DOJ’s curation of the released files.
Notably, President Donald Trump, 79, did not appear in any of the released photographs, despite having a widely-publicized friendship with Epstein for years. Pictures from Epstein’s estate, released by House Oversight Democrats a week prior to Friday’s DOJ release, had multiple photographs of Trump partying with young women and fraternizing with Epstein.
The redactions and discrepancies between Friday’s release and the Oversight Democrats’ release led to bipartisan suspicion that the DOJ was doing its best to protect Donald Trump and those close to him while technically complying with the law.
Trump railed against the Epstein files’ release, describing it as a Democratic hoax. It wasn’t until Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of their release that Trump begrudgingly signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Top DOJ brass, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, 60, and FBI Director Kash Patel, 45, have attempted to downplay the Epstein files for months, with Bondi going so far as claiming in June that the release of more files was neither “appropriate or warranted.” A month later, reports surfaced that she told Trump his name was in the files.
Patel, meanwhile, shocked Epstein’s survivors by testifying before Congress that there was no evidence suggesting Epstein trafficked women to anyone other than himself.
The Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files has led a majority of Americans to believe Trump is currently engaged in an Epstein cover-up. A November Morning Consult poll found that three-in-five Americans believe Trump knew about Epstein’s crimes, and 38 percent believe he participated in them.
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