Despite the Justice Department having been legally compelled to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein by Dec. 19, only a small fraction have been released as of Sunday, prompting a legal expert to flag not only how the DOJ skirted the law, but how Congress can compel compliance.
Signed into law by President Donald Trump on Nov. 19, the Epstein Files Transparency Act required the DOJ to release all of its files on Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Instead, the DOJ released just 1% of its Epstein files, and with redactions outside the scope of what the law permitted.
Some lawmakers have sought to compel the DOJ’s compliance, including Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), who asked a court to appoint a neutral arbitrator, known as a special master, to oversee the release of the remaining Epstein files. That effort was later rejected by a judge, but national security and transparency attorney Mark Zaid has since pointed to an alternative path he says Congress should pursue.
“For unknown reasons, Congress failed to include any type of enforcement mechanism, especially judicial review, within the Epstein legislation,” Zaid told The Guardian in its report Saturday. “Despite the mandatory provisions and aggressive nature of the disclosure requirements, this is a gaping hole that perhaps was unanticipated but is now openly evident.”
Despite the legislative oversight that has allowed the DOJ to openly skirt law, Zaid said there was a relatively simple fix lawmakers could pursue.
“Frankly, it would have been an easy fix at the time to include either a direct congressional oversight pathway for enforcement or even for the general public to litigate the claims through special [Freedom of Information Act] provisions,” he continued.
“The reality is the likely best way forward is to amend the legislation and create explicit judicial oversight.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who oversees the DOJ, is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 11, a hearing that’s expected to see her grilled by lawmakers over her agency’s noncompliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.