Unhappy with the Justice Department’s decision to legally release files on Jeffrey Epstein, lawmakers on Saturday threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against those responsible, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Democrats and Republicans alike criticized the inaction, while Democrats accused the Justice Department of intentionally removing at least one image of President Trump from public view, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) suggesting it could be a harbinger of “one of these.”
Trump administration officials said the release was fully in compliance with the law and that the redactions were made solely to protect the victims of Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who was charged with abusing hundreds of women and girls before his death in 2019.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), the author of the dossier that called for the agency’s release, blasted Bondi in a social media video, accusing him of denying the existence of many of the records for months only to force an “incomplete release with too many redactions” in response to and in violation of the new law.
Khanna said he and the bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), are “exploring all options” to respond to and compel further disclosures, including pursuing “impeachment of members of the judiciary,” asking courts to hold officials in contempt who are blocking their release, and “prosecuting those who are obstructing justice.”
“We will continue to work with survivors to demand the full release of these files,” Khanna said.
Later, in an interview with CNN, he added that he and Massey were drafting articles of impeachment against Bondi, but had not yet decided whether to file them.
In his social media posts, Massey rejected Friday’s release as insufficient, saying it was “in flagrant violation of both the spirit and letter of the law.”
On Saturday, as the full scope of redactions and other withholdings came into focus, lawmakers’ view that the Justice Department’s document dump did not comply with the law echoed similar frustrations across the political spectrum.
Complaints had already escalated sharply late Friday, after the names and identities of victims as well as “politically exposed individuals and government officials” were redacted from records, a violation of the law that Justice Department officials denied.
Among the critics was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who cited the Fox report in an angry post directed at Mr. X late Friday.
“The point was not to protect ‘politically exposed individuals or government officials,’ which is exactly what MAGA has always wanted, and that means actually draining the swamp. It means exposing all the corrupt and criminal rich and powerful elites, rather than protecting them by redacting their names,” Greene wrote.
A senior Justice Department official later called Fox News to dispute the report. But the deletion of a file released on Friday night showing a desk in Epstein’s home that contained a drawer full of photos of Trump fueled bipartisan concerns that references to the president were being illegally withheld.
This fall, when the House Oversight Committee released archived documents from the Epstein family estate, Trump’s name was mentioned more than any other public figure.
“If they delete this, imagine how much they are trying to hide. This could be one of the biggest cover-ups in American history,” Schumer wrote to X.
Several victims also said the release was insufficient. “It’s really like another slap in the face,” Alicia Arden, who reported to police in 1997 that Epstein abused her, told CNN. “We wanted all the files to be made public, as they say.”
President Trump signed the bill into law after working to block a vote on it, but he remained conspicuously silent on the issue. He did not mention it in a lengthy speech in North Carolina on Friday night.
But White House officials and Justice Department leaders rejected the idea that the release was incomplete or did not comply with the law, or that politicians’ names were redacted.
“The only redactions applied to the document are those required by law and are fully redacted,” said Atty. General Todd Blanche. “In accordance with the statute and applicable law, we do not redact the names of individuals or politicians unless they are victims.”
Other Republicans also defended the administration. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the administration has “achieved unprecedented transparency regarding the Epstein case and will continue to release documents.”
Epstein is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was convicted in Florida in 2008 of soliciting a child for prostitution, but was jailed for just 13 months in what many denounced as a sweetheart plea deal for a well-connected and wealthy defendant.
Mr. Epstein’s abusive behavior has attracted significant attention, including from many within Mr. Trump’s political base, in part because of unresolved questions surrounding which of his many powerful friends are involved in crimes against children. Some of those questions have been swirling around President Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years before what Epstein described as a falling out.
Evidence has emerged in recent months that suggests Mr. Trump may have known about the crimes of his association with Mr. Epstein.
In a 2019 email released by the House Oversight Committee, Epstein said Trump: In a 2011 email to Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of colluding with Epstein to help sexually abuse young girls, Epstein wrote, “The dog that didn’t bark was Trump.[The victim]spent hours with him in my house…His name was never mentioned.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
The records released Friday contained few major new revelations, but did include a 1996 complaint against Epstein filed with the FBI, which had little involvement, confirming long-held fears that Epstein’s crimes may have been stopped years earlier.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the president’s most consistent critics, wrote in X that Bondi should appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and explain under oath the extensive redactions and omissions, calling it a “deliberate violation of the law.”
“The Trump Justice Department has taken months to keep its promise to release the entire Epstein file,” Schiff wrote. “Epstein survivors and the American people need answers now.”
