Judge Emmett Sullivan can no longer trust the Justice department after a recent hearing on the Jeffrey Epstein files, a former federal prosecutor said Friday.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance was responding to Thursday's hearing that pitted the DOJ, hoping to keep the files out of the hands of Katie Phang, against her attorneys.
In her analysis, Vance highlighted several exchanges between the judge and Just department Senior Counsel Andrew Block that she found concerning.
The first saw Sullivan ask why the Justice department had failed to publish its explanation in the Federal Register for why some documents were redacted, as required by law.
When Block could not provide a specific date for completion, the judge "pressed him for a timeframe," Vance explained.
"You knew it was going to be discussed today," Sullivan said, asking Block when the process would be completed. Block responded that he had been "told it should be coming," prompting the judge to suggest that Block "pass the microphone" to someone who could provide answers.
The judge reiterated throughout the hearing that he was "willing to work with you," but Block's vague responses should raise concerns about the government's "good faith" efforts to comply with the court's orders.
A similarly "painful" exchange occurred regarding the government's failure to provide translations of foreign language documents, Vance maintained.
"The government didn’t offer any legal support for its position that it wasn’t practical to do so," Vance wrote. "Seeming to run low on patience, although it’s hard to tell when you’re getting audio but no video, the Judge responded, 'So the government’s position is it won’t comply with that section? I mean, I just need to know.'"
Vance noted what is known as the "presumption of regularity"— a legal standard assuming government lawyers are acting ethically and in good faith— should no longer apply in this case, after the exchanges and wrote: "Time to set presumption aside."
As she noted, Phang's lawyer nailed it when he complained, "They just don't want to do it."
