Judge deals setback to lawyers seeking to force DOJ to release all Epstein files

A federal judge on Wednesday declined to appoint a special master to oversee the immediate release of the remaining Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files, dealing a blow to a bipartisan group of lawmakers who filed a motion to do so.

The reason for the rejection: this isn't the proper venue to make such a request.

In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmeyer rebuffed the request by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), the co-sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, to allow them to participate as "friends of the court" in the criminal case against Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to advise such an appointment, saying that "neither party in [the Maxwell] case has made any motion concerning the implementation of EFTA" and thus Massie and Khanna's participation in the case "is therefore not permissible."

However, Engelmeyer added, Massie and Khanna are free to pursue the release of the remaining files by other means, either by filing their own separate lawsuit to compel it, or by using their congressional oversight powers to pressure the Justice Department.

The EFTA, which passed both chambers of Congress near unanimously despite months of effort by President Donald Trump to stop it, set a deadline for all files to be released last month.

However, as of January 21, only a small fraction of the outstanding files have been released, and some observers have accused the Justice Department of selectively releasing files that don't embarrass Trump.