By Chinonyerem Emmanuel
Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives are escalating their fight with the Department of Justice, asking a federal judge in New York to intervene and force the release of long-awaited records tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday, Reps. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, formally requested that the court appoint a “special master” an independent monitor to oversee the disclosure of all Epstein-related materials, as required under a law the two lawmakers helped push through Congress.
In a sharply worded letter sent to Manhattan Federal Court Judge Paul Engelmayer, Massie and Khanna accused the DOJ of blatantly disregarding both federal law and a court order by missing a Dec. 19 deadline to release the full set of Epstein files.
The correspondence, obtained by CNBC and first reported by MS Now, paints a picture of mounting frustration with what the lawmakers describe as ongoing obstruction and secrecy by the Justice Department.
“The conduct by the DOJ is not only a flagrant violation of the mandatory disclosure obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Massie and Khanna wrote, “but, as this Court has recognized in its previous rulings, the behavior by the DOJ has caused serious trauma to survivors.” They emphasized that their concerns are both urgent and profound, noting that the department’s actions undermine transparency, accountability, and trust in the justice system.
As the lead sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the lawmakers said the DOJ’s failure to comply with the statute — as well as with Judge Engelmayer’s prior orders — leaves Congress and the public in the dark about what information exists, what has been withheld, and why.
According to the letter, the Justice Department has also failed to provide required reports to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees detailing which records have been redacted or withheld from release.
“To date, no such report has been provided,” the letter stated. “Without it, there is no authoritative accounting of what records exist, what has been withheld, or why, making effective oversight and judicial review far more difficult.” The lawmakers concluded bluntly: “Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act.”
Earlier this week, the DOJ acknowledged in a court filing that it is still reviewing more than 2 million documents connected to Epstein. Yet despite the scale of that archive, the department has so far released fewer than 13,000 documents, a small fraction of the total, according to its own filings.
Khanna criticized the department’s handling of the process in a statement to CNBC, accusing it of openly defying the law. “Millions of files are being kept from the public,” he said. He also alleged that the DOJ has mishandled redactions, failing to adequately protect survivors while at times removing records after publication without providing any explanation.
“That is why we are requesting the appointment of a Special Master,” Khanna said, “to oversee the release of the files and ensure that the DOJ is following the law.”
Judge Engelmayer currently oversees the criminal case that resulted in the conviction of Epstein’s long-time associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. Epstein himself died by suicide in August 2019 while being held in a Manhattan federal jail, just weeks after his arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges.
CNBC has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment regarding the lawmakers’ request, but the department has not yet responded.
Source: CNBC
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