A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to release more files related to Jeffrey Epstein, concluding that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is violating the law Congress passed to make Epstein documents public.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that Katie Phang, a lawyer and political commentator, has the right to sue Blanche in federal court in Washington, D.C., and is harmed by Blanche’s refusal to follow the law and turn over documents such as logs that weren’t made public.
“Here, the current high level of interest in the Epstein Files combined with the upcoming mid-term elections amounts to a circumstance that itself constitutes irreparable harm, especially where the Attorney General has not disputed that he is in violation of the Epstein Act,” Sullivan, a Clinton appointee, wrote.
On her show on the left-leaning MeidasTouch Network, Phang said she acted in her right as a private citizen to get more of the Epstein files released, stating that Blanche needs to either “put up or shut up.”
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“He either has to bring forth unredacted files or show cause as to why he should not or cannot do so,” Phang said.
Sullivan ordered that the DOJ “produce to the public” a series of files related to the case against the convicted sex offender by July 2. The agency was initially required to respond to his court by 1 p.m. Thursday — which it did not.
“By not responding substantively, the Attorney General has conceded Ms. Phang’s merits arguments in the pending motion,” the judge wrote.
A DOJ spokesperson said Friday that Blanche “has not conceded anything.”
“Judge Sullivan’s perverse interpretation appears to be focused on driving misleading headlines,” the spokesperson said in an email. “This judge is suggesting DOJ violate the law by un-redacting victim names, who as the Department has always explained, sadly became co-conspirators. DOJ has produced all responsive documents and will appeal this decision with confidence.”
The agency was legally required to release the files by Dec. 19 under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but missed this deadline.
An initial, heavily redacted batch of hundreds of thousands of documents was published in December, and millions more came in January. In March, a follow-up batch was published, along with roughly 50,000 previously removed files that were restored following review.
“Responding to public demands for information, Congress with near unanimity passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Sullivan wrote in the opening line of his order, adding that the act is an “unprecedented disclosure law” that requires “extremely timely compliance.”
This article has been updated with a comment from a DOJ spokesperson.
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