Judge demands response after lawmakers accuse DOJ of dragging feet with Epstein files

MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal judge in New York is demanding answers from the Justice Department after a pair of U.S. congressmen accused prosecutors of slow-rolling the release of files relating to late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Late Monday night, California Democrat Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie wrote to the judge presiding over Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case in the Southern District of New York. They formally requested to intervene in the proceedings and asked the judge to appoint a special master to facilitate the release of the so-called Epstein files.

“The Department of Justice is openly defying the law by refusing to release the full Epstein files. Millions of files are being kept from the public,” Khanna said in a statement last week. “The DOJ has failed to make the necessary redactions to protect survivors while removing records after publication without any explanation.”

Massie accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of “egregiously violating the requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” the law passed by Congress late last year to facilitate the release of the materials.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer — the Barack Obama appointee in charge of Maxwell’s case — gave the Justice Department until Friday to respond to the lawmakers’ claims. Engelmayer said the government’s response should include discussion on whether the representatives have standing to intervene in Maxwell’s case and whether the court has the authority to rule on the Trump administration’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“Should defendant Ghislaine Maxwell wish to be heard on this matter, any letter from, or on behalf of, her is also due on Jan. 16, 2026,” the judge added.

The representatives can reply to the government, if they wish, by next Tuesday.

As the leads of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Khanna and Massie have been two of the loudest voices criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of the materials. The legislation required the Justice Department to release everything it’s gathered on Epstein over decades of investigation, with a deadline of Dec. 19, 2025.

While thousands of documents have already been released to the public, the department claims it still needs to review more than two million others to redact sensitive information prior to their release.

The tall task is already seeping into other cases. On Tuesday, another federal judge in the Southern District of New York told prosecutors to hold off of the Epstein assignment to focus on another marquee sex crime prosecution: the case of Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander — a trio of wealthy brothers in real estate accused of using their status to rape and traffic dozens of women.

With that case set to head to trial later this month, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni told prosecutors that they need to focus on expeditiously sending over discovery materials.

“A few people can be strung from the Epstein case given that these people are on trial,” said the Obama appointee. “Epstein is dead.”

Khanna and Massie are also concerned about the accuracy of the Epstein-related workload, however, writing in a letter to Engelmayer last week that the Justice Department’s own figures are self-reported and “internally inconsistent with prior representations.”

“There is reasonable suspicion that the DOJ has overstated the scope of responsive materials, thereby portraying compliance as unmanageable and effectively delaying disclosure,” they wrote.

President Donald Trump’s ties to Epstein have sparked a renewed interest in the New York financier’s life and pending sex trafficking case, which was iced around a month after his arrest when the 66-year-old was found dead in his cell in August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell was convicted at trial in 2021 of recruiting underage girls and young women for Epstein to abuse. Now behind bars, the former socialite is representing herself in an effort to get released as rumors of a potential pardon from Trump continue to swirl.

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