US congressmen ask judge to appoint official to force release of all Epstein files

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 8 Jan 2026 18.03 EST
Last modified on Thu 8 Jan 2026 18.04 EST


Two US House of Representatives members have asked a federal judge to appoint a special master to compel the justice department to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

On Thursday, Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California and Republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky asked US district judge Paul Engelmayer to release the full Epstein files, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Criticizing the justice department for not releasing the full set of files on last year’s 19 December deadline, Khanna and Massie in a letter said: “The conduct by the DOJ is not only a flagrant violation of the mandatory disclosure obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but as this Court has recognized in its previous rulings, the behavior by the DOJ has caused serious trauma to survivors.

“As the leads of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, we have urgent and grave concerns about DOJ’s failure to comply with the Act as well as the Department’s violations of this Court’s order,” the representatives said, adding: “Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/08/judge-appoint-official-release-epstein-files

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Link to REQUEST (PDF) - https://khanna.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/khanna.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/khanna-sdny-letter-1-8_0.pdf

[wcmagumba]

1. This is very good news...we'll see what affect it has on the t-rump DOJ...

[UpInArms]

2. 3..2...1..

Invade Greenland

[Gaugamela]

3. Hopefully this won't take a year to play out in court.

[ancianita]

4. I don't understand why Congress hasn't held Pam Bondi in Contempt of Congress over the files,

since both houses voted overwhelmingly for the law to release the files.

So what if she shows up to a congressional subpoena with her usual excuses, they can still, the next day, hold her in Contempt of Congress.

[Justice matters.]

5. I guess the 30-day "lapse" has to be reached for that.

That would be around this Jan 18 (Sunday in 10 days)?

[ancianita]

6. Never heard of that rule (?). My main point & concern is that Contempt of Congress hasn't even appeared anywhere.

Because, yes, Bondi can be held in contempt of Congress through a process called "inherent contempt," a rarely used power allowing Congress to fine or arrest individuals for obstructing legislative functions, particularly if she defied subpoenas or a law (like the Epstein Files Transparency Act) for the full release of the Epstein files.

I wonder if both houses are keeping this decision close to the vest (for safety concerns?) until they actually do it.