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WASHINGTON (CN) — Congressional Democrats, and even some Republicans, were furious with the Trump administration on Friday as it appeared the Justice Department was prepared to potentially violate a federal law instructing the agency to publish its full body of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Congress last month passed — and President Donald Trump signed — legislation directing the Justice Department to release all files from its investigation into Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex trafficker, within 30 days, making Friday the deadline.
But Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday on Fox & Friends that the department was not ready to fully meet Congress’ mandate.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” said Blanche. “So today, several hundred thousand, and then over the next couple of weeks I expect several hundred thousand more.”
Blanche said the Epstein documents would be released in “all different forms,” including photographs.
After his remarks, congressional Democrats accused the Justice Department of breaking the law. In a joint statement, Maryland Representatives Jamie Raskin and California Representative Robert Garcia said the Trump administration was “covering up” evidence tied to Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking ring.
“For months, [Attorney General] Pam Bondi has denied survivors the transparency and accountability they have demanded and deserve and has defied the Oversight Committee’s subpoena,” wrote the lawmakers. “The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself, even as it gives star treatment to Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Over the summer, Congress subpoenaed the Justice Department and several former White House officials for records tied to the Epstein investigation and has repeatedly demanded details about the Trump administration’s interactions with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in aiding the late sex offender and was recently transferred to a lower-security prison.
Raskin and Garcia said Democrats are “examining all legal options” in response.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed the criticism Friday, saying the administration was “breaking the law” by failing to release the records required under the November statute.
Schumer added that Senate Democrats were working with attorneys representing Epstein’s victims and other legal experts to figure out which documents the Justice Department had withheld. “We will not stop until the whole truth comes out,” he said. “People want the truth and continue to demand the immediate release of all the Epstein files. This is nothing more than a cover up to protect Donald Trump from his ugly past.”
Democrats have spent months pressing the Epstein files as a political weapon against Trump, pointing to his social ties with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s. Oversight Committee Democrats reviewing records from Epstein’s estate have released photos and documents highlighting those connections.
Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and there is no solid evidence linking him to wrongdoing. Still, the administration’s handling of the case has drawn criticism from some Trump allies, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who publicly broke with the president over the issue.
Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, the lead Republican sponsor of the Epstein files bill, which passed nearly unanimously in both chambers of Congress last month, has also slammed the White House for slow-walking the release of the Epstein files.
“Time’s up. Release the files,” the congressman wrote in a post on X Friday. In a separate post, he published part of his bill’s text highlighting the provision which directed the Justice Department to publish “all” Epstein documents “not later than 30 days after” the bill’s signing.
As of Friday afternoon, no Epstein documents had been made available to the general public.
Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 as he awaited trial. Authorities have long ruled his death a suicide.
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