Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is pushing for the Senate to sue the Justice Department over the partial disclosure of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the administration of trying to “hide the truth.”
Schumer says the Trump administration is flouting the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed last month and which required the Justice Department to release all files related to Epstein by Dec. 19.
“I am introducing a resolution directing the Senate to initiate legal action against DOJ for its blatant disregard of the law in its refusal to release the complete Epstein files,” Schumer said in a statement posted on social media.
“The American people deserve full transparency, and Senate Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to ensure they get it. This administration cannot be allowed to hide the truth,” he declared.
The Justice Department on Friday released only a fraction of the Epstein files covered by the new disclosure law, citing the need to review documents to protect victims.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the partial release of information in a Sunday interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply that to protect victims,” he said. “So the same individuals that are out there complaining about the lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the same individuals who apparently don’t want us to protect victims.”
Blanche pledged that the Justice Department wouldn’t redact information about Trump contained in the files.
He said that lawyers at the department are reviewing “about a million or so pages of documents” to redact sensitive information about victims.
The documents released on Friday were heavily redacted, prompting complaints that not enough new information about Epstein’s illicit activities were made available to the public.
The Senate passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act by unanimous consent on Nov. 19 after the House passed it by a vote of 427 to 1 on Nov. 18.
Schumer warned at a press conference last week that there would be “serious legal and political consequences” if the Justice Department does not fully comply with the law’s mandate to make all documents available after a month.