A federal judge ruled in January that congressional lawmakers can pursue a separate lawsuit to compel the Justice Department to release Epstein investigation documents, but cannot intervene in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer blocked the effort by Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to append their demand to Maxwell’s ongoing case, but acknowledged their concerns about DOJ compliance were ‘undeniably important and timely.’
The ruling concerns the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by President Trump in November, which required the Justice Department to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell by December 19. The department has released only about 12,000 of more than 2 million documents it identified for disclosure.
In January, a federal judge ruled that congressional lawmakers seeking to accelerate release of Justice Department files on Epstein and Maxwell can file a separate lawsuit to compel disclosure, but cannot intervene in Maxwell’s ongoing criminal case.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer blocked Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., from inserting themselves into Maxwell’s sex trafficking prosecution. Yet the judge acknowledged that the lawmakers’ concerns about whether the department is complying with the law were “undeniably important and timely.”
Court Allows Separate Suit
“We appreciate Judge Engelmayer’s timely response and attention to our request, and we respect his decision,” Khanna said in a statement. “He said that we raised ‘legitimate concerns’ about whether DOJ is complying with the law. We will continue to use every legal option to ensure the files are released and the survivors see justice.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by President Trump in November, required the Justice Department to disclose more than 2 million documents related to investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell by December 19. The department missed that deadline.
To date, the Justice Department has released approximately 12,000 documents. Department officials said they assigned hundreds of lawyers to review the remaining records to determine what information must be redacted to protect the identities of hundreds of sex abuse victims.
Survivors Call for Accountability
The judge noted that he had received letters and emails from Epstein survivors expressing concern that the department would not comply with the transparency law. Survivors wrote that the DOJ was “paying ‘lip service’ to the victims” and “failing to treat us ‘with the solicitude’ we deserve,” according to the judge’s written order.
Judge Engelmayer ruled that the judge overseeing Maxwell’s case has no authority to supervise the Justice Department’s compliance with the new law. He also said that Khanna and Massie lack legal standing to intervene in the criminal prosecution, which they can address in a separate lawsuit if they choose to file one.
Maxwell and Epstein’s Cases
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence following her December 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges. A jury found that she recruited girls for Epstein to abuse over the past quarter-century and participated in some of the abuse herself.
Jeffrey Epstein died in a federal jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.