Two lawmakers who spearheaded the effort to force the Trump administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein files are bypassing Pam Bondi’s Justice Department to demand all the files are made public.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act requiring all of the DOJ’s investigative files on the late sex offender to be released by Dec. 19.
The DOJ, however, has been slow to release the files as it heavily redacts the documents and scrubs references to President Donald Trump.
In response, Khanna and Massie are “intervening” with the Southern District of New York and asking the court to appoint a “special master” to ensure all of the documents are released, Khanna told NPR on Friday.
“What I want to see over these next few weeks is for the documents actually to start coming out that the American people want to see—and the survivors want to see—which is the documents that name the rich and powerful men who are on Epstein’s rape island,” he told host Michel Martin.
They expect to provide additional details about the plan early next week, he added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Massie and the DOJ for comment.
The Southern District of New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking in 2019, but the case never moved forward after the disgraced financier was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell about a month after he was indicted.
The DOJ has yet to release an estimated 5.2 million files, and enlisted hundreds of lawyers to review the materials before they’re made public. That work is expected to last at least until Jan. 20 if not later, sources told The New York Times this week.
Bondi has said the delays are needed to make redactions to protect Epstein’s victims.
Khanna told NPR that he and Massie were “less concerned about the delay and are more concerned about the documents that are being withheld.”
“We want to see the survivor’s statements to the FBI where they name other rich and powerful men who abused them or who covered up the crimes,” he said. “And we want to see the draft prosecution memos, which explain why many, many men were involved in the coverup and abuse.”
Speaking to NPR, Khanna said he and Massie were moving forward with an effort to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress and, following a 30-day grace period, fine her for every day the files are not released.
“Our interest is not to take down Pam Bondi,” he said. “Our interest is to take down the rich and powerful men who abused [over 1,200] survivors, and to finally see justice, and to not have an Epstein class in this country that gets to flout the rules, live by its own values, and not suffer consequences.”
Trump was friends with Epstein for more than a decade before the pair had a falling out in the early 2000s. He has denied having any knowledge of, or participation in, Epstein’s crimes.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution of a minor and received a sweetheart deal that allowed him to serve a vastly reduced sentence, despite evidence that he had abused dozens of victims.
After the Southern District of New York revived the case, his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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