A leading Democrat is blasting the Justice Department following the release of files pertaining to the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein to the House Oversight Committee on Friday.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said that the documents handed over to the committee are a fraction of what he knows exists and that most of what was turned over contained previously known information.
“Only 3% of the documents given to the Oversight Committee are new. The rest are already in the public domain. Less than 1% of files have been released. DOJ is stonewalling,” he said in a statement posted to his congressional website.
“The survivors deserve justice and the public deserves transparency. Congress must pass my bill with Rep. Thomas Massie [R-Ky.], the Epstein Files Transparency Act, to force the full release of the Epstein files with redactions to protect the victims. On September 3rd, I’m holding a press conference with survivors of Epstein and Maxwell’s abuse,” he said.
“Some will be speaking for the first time. We’ll hear from them why releasing this information is so important,” he added.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Manhattan last week rejected the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury records from Epstein’s 2019 indictment, calling the government’s move a “diversion” from its own refusal to release far more substantial files.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, a Clinton appointee, issued a 14-page order Wednesday denying the motion, writing that “the information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts pales in comparison to the Epstein investigative information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice.”
He noted that the DOJ is “the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein file” but instead had sought to open transcripts that contain little new information.
According to the order, no victims testified before the grand jury. The only witness was an FBI agent who “had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.” The presentation also included “a PowerPoint slideshow” and “a call log,” both of which will remain sealed.
“The instant grand jury motion appears to be a ‘diversion’ from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government’s possession,” Berman wrote.
The ruling is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Justice Department, which in July angered Epstein victims, online activists and some of President Donald Trump’s own supporters when it announced it would not be releasing any additional records from the investigation. That announcement said a long-speculated “client list” did not exist, sparking further outrage among those who believed otherwise.
In response to the outcry, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek court approval to unseal grand jury materials. Evidence before grand juries is typically kept secret unless a judge finds special circumstances, and multiple judges in recent weeks have concluded those circumstances are absent in Epstein-related cases.
Earlier this month, Judge Paul Engelmayer denied a similar request in the Ghislaine Maxwell case, saying “the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.” Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence.
Last month, Judge Robin Rosenberg in Florida rejected efforts to release grand jury records from Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which allowed him to serve only 13 months, much of it on work release.
Berman emphasized that the Justice Department already possesses a large trove of unreleased evidence, writing that the “complete information trove would better inform the public about the Epstein case.” He added that the grand jury records at issue were “merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct.”