DOJ must release Epstein files by Friday or risk repercussions, law’s co-author says

One of the sponsors of the law requiring the release of investigative files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said it was giving the Justice Department the “benefit of the doubt” by allowing it to make the files public by Friday – warning there would be repercussions if it did not do so.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last month by President Donald Trump, “calls for the public release of these files,” Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, told NBC News in an interview.

He said Justice Department officials had not responded to requests for information about how or when the records would be made public, but noted that the Justice Department had successfully unsealed the grand jury records in the case, which he took as an indication they were trying to comply.

The law requires the DOJ to make the records public by December 19.

Khanna said in an interview Monday that he believes the reports “will show in some cases how powerful men said they controlled local police in New York or had contacts with the FBI and told survivors not to report things because they weren’t going anywhere. That needs to be exposed.”

He said he believed the files would also shed light on what was happening on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.

“It needs to be revealed who the other powerful men were on Epstein’s rape island,” Khanna said. “There were a lot of sex parties where women were trafficked for money. »

A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the records.

“Until the 19th, let’s give the benefit of the doubt, given that they supported these judicial decisions,” Khanna said. “And then we’ll see.”

The department appeared to slow down previous disclosures in the case.

On August 19, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for its entire Epstein files. The Justice Department later told the panel it needed more time and ultimately turned over more than 33,000 pages to the panel, which became public in early September.

House Republicans called the documents, most of which were already public, the “first batch,” but the department has not turned over any other documents since.

Khanna said that under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if the information was not made public by Friday, “Justice Department officials would be breaking the law.”

Although they likely would not face charges under the current administration, “they could be subject to prosecution given federal law, and the statute of limitations will likely apply under a new administration.”

They “could also be brought before Congress, the Oversight Committee,” and “federal prosecution could occur” for any inaction, Khanna said.

The law requires the attorney general to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice” involving the late financier and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The politically connected Epstein, who at various times had ties to Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s former Prince Andrew, among others, committed suicide in his prison cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. All denied wrongdoing.

He had been investigated for similar charges a decade earlier, but ended up pleading guilty to state charges involving a single minor victim after striking a secret non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors in Florida. The deal allowed Epstein to serve just 13 months in a Palm Beach County jail, where he was allowed out almost daily through a work release program and had his own private security.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring to commit the sex trafficking of minors.

The new law calls on the DOJ to make available information about individuals, “including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity or plea agreements, or investigative proceedings,” and “[e]entities (corporate, nonprofit, academic, or governmental) with known or suspected ties to Epstein’s trafficking or financial networks,” as well as information on any immunity agreements.

There are some exceptions for what must be surrendered. The law authorizes the attorney general to withhold records that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or pending prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary.”

Trump last month ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Clinton, Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman after their names appeared in emails produced by Epstein’s estate. None have been accused of wrongdoing or involved in criminal activity in the emails. Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, told Vanity Fair in a series of interviews published Tuesday that Trump was “wrong” to say there was anything incriminating related to Clinton in the Epstein files.

Khanna said that even if some documents were withheld, “it would represent less than 5% of the files.”

“There are so many documents,” he said.

Epstein’s connections, the leniency he showed and the circumstances of his death have fueled years of conspiracy theories, and Khanna acknowledged that even the full release of the files won’t put an end to them. But he said they could bring some peace to his victims, who the FBI said numbered more than 1,000.

People “still have concerns about President Kennedy and Dr. King,” Khanna said, referring to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., “but do I think there will be a sense that finally the government is trying to be held accountable?” Yes. »