Two senior House Democrats announced they are “examining all legal options” following the Justice Department’s decision to release only a portion of the long-sought Jeffrey Epstein files, despite federal law mandating their full public disclosure.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the DOJ plans to initially release “several hundred thousand” documents, followed by additional releases over the next few weeks. Blanche made the remarks during an interview on Fox News.
“I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents [Friday],” Blanche said. “And then over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), in a joint statement, accused the Trump administration of violating federal law by withholding critical evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar international sex trafficking operation.
“The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself,” they stated, adding that they are weighing legal action against the department’s partial release.
Blanche attributed the delay to the sheer volume of documents and the need to protect victims, noting that DOJ attorneys are reviewing each file for redaction of identifying information. “There’s a lot of eyes looking at these,” Blanche said. “We want to make sure that when we do produce the materials, we’re protecting every single victim.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the partial release as “nothing more than a cover-up” and claimed it was designed to protect President Trump. “The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear,” Schumer said. “The Trump administration had 30 days to release all the Epstein files, not just some.”
Not all Democrats shared the same criticism. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Act, noted the release could be “a positive step” if documents are meaningful and a clear timeline is provided. “They’re producing far more than they’ve given to our Oversight Committee,” Khanna said. “But they ultimately must release all of it.”
The legislation requiring the disclosure of Epstein-related records passed Congress overwhelmingly in November and was signed by President Trump, despite his objections to the bill.
One Republican also raised concerns about compliance with the law. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who helped lead the bipartisan effort, warned that the statute leaves “no ambiguity” and could result in penalties for noncompliance.
Epstein was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died weeks later in a Manhattan jail. His longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
