Attorney General Todd Blanche is "circling the drains" as his Justice Department edges toward a contempt finding linked to Jeffrey Epstein-related records, according to a new legal analysis.
In a Saturday episode of the Legal AF podcast, Michael Popok argued that Blanche's Justice department is "staring down the barrel, the business end of a federal judge."
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan "wants to hold them in contempt of court for failing to produce documents he's ordered to be produced consistent with the Epstein Files Transparency Act," Popok said.
Blanche is the defendant in a lawsuit by lawyer and journalist Katie Phang, who is demanding the release of additional Epstein files or an explanation of why the DOJ won't release those files. She alleges that the DOJ improperly redacted the Epstein files based on the requirement set out in the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Sullivan has demanded Blanche turn over handwritten FBI notes tied to a woman who "claims she was victimized and sexually abused by Donald Trump when she was thirteen years old," Popok explained.
Sullivan also ordered Blanche to produce a redaction log and sworn declaration about a required Federal Register notice, Popok added.
DOJ lawyers answered Sullivan's records demand with "a ridiculous two-page filing," according to Popok, who trashed it as "a page and a half of gibberish unsupported by any affidavit or sworn statement."
Popok mocked the DOJ's account of its document review — which bemoaned attorneys working "days, nights, weekends, and holidays, including Christmas Day and New Year's Eve" — and described it as a "pity party."
Popok also seized on a claim from a DOJ attorney that the government had not previously produced handwritten interview notes in the matter. A member of Phang's legal team, whom Popok interviewed in a previous podcast, called that assertion "just straight up false," and pointed to "over a hundred examples of handwritten notes being reviewed, being produced" under the transparency act.
Popok predicted Sullivan is nearing a breaking point.
"I think Judge Sullivan's had it," Popok said. "Bring the contempt already. Bring the contempt. Order the production of the FBI notes by a date certain or people will be found in contempt of court. Start threatening jail. That's where we're at."
