Katie Phang has filed a lawsuit against acting attorney general Todd Blanche for failing to fully release the Epstein files as mandated by a transparency law. The lawsuit claims ongoing violations by the DoJ regarding the disclosure of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Key points
Katie Phang sues Todd Blanche over Epstein files release
Lawsuit claims ongoing violations of transparency law
Deadline for full release is December 19
Blanche accused of stalling the document release
DoJ's inspector general is launching an audit
Mentioned in this story
Katie PhangTodd BlancheDepartment of Justice
Epstein files
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, engaged in a “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of a law requiring the justice department (DoJ) to release the entirety of the so-called Epstein files, a lawsuit filed in Washington DC alleges.
The action on Monday by Katie Phang, an investigative journalist and legal analyst, seeks to hold Blanche personally responsible for the DoJ’s alleged failure to publish all the documents the government holds about Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. A full release was mandated by a landmark transparency act passed by Congress in November, with a deadline of 19 December.
Blanche, who was the deputy attorney general until Pam Bondi was fired earlier this month, has since been accused of stalling the process and releasing only a fraction of the papers. The scandal has been hugely damaging to the White House in part because of Donald Trump’s former relationship with the disgraced financier.
In February, Democrats said millions of documents were still being withheld, and accused the DoJ of a “full-blown cover up” after Blanche effectively declared the investigation over, following what he said at the time was a final release of about 3m previously unseen papers.
In a separate development last week, the DoJ’s office of the inspector general (OIG) said it was launching its own audit into the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Epstein died in prison by suicide in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His “fixer”, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison term after her December 2021 conviction on similar charges.
Phang’s lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday in the US district court for the District of Columbia, names Blanche as the defendant and alleges misconduct on several levels. It accuses Blanche of missing statutory deadlines for document production, improper or excessive redactions, failure to explain redactions as required by law, and withholding or retracting key documents after release.
Q&A
What are the Epstein files and why are they important?
The Epstein files contain documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and their release is crucial for transparency regarding his connections and activities.
What is the Epstein Files Transparency Act?
The Epstein Files Transparency Act is a law passed by Congress that mandates the full release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein by a specified deadline.
Why is Todd Blanche being sued by Katie Phang?
Katie Phang is suing Todd Blanche for allegedly violating the law by not releasing all documents related to the Epstein case, which she claims is a significant breach of transparency.
What has been the response from the Department of Justice regarding the Epstein files?
The Department of Justice has been accused of stalling the release of the Epstein files, with claims that millions of documents remain withheld despite previous announcements of a final release.
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Blanche has argued that redactions were necessary in many places to prevent the inadvertent identification of numerous of Epstein’s victims, many of them minors, and has conceded that “mistakes are inevitable”.
Many Epstein victims have complained that their sensitive personal information was improperly exposed in the releases.
Critics, meanwhile, questioned the process by which the DoJ determined which papers to withhold, and which redactions to make. “There were tons of completely unnecessary redactions, in addition to the failure to redact the names of victims, and so that was troubling to us,” Jamie Raskin, the Democratic ranking member of the House judiciary committee, told reporters in February after viewing some of the DoJ’s most recent release.
Phang, a reporter with MeidasTouch, wants the court to declare the DoJ in violation of the law, order the release of all required documents without unlawful redactions, and provide an explanation for any remaining redactions.
The lawsuit also seeks the appointment of an independent special master from outside the department to oversee compliance by the DoJ of the Epstein act.
“The DoJ’s actions have directly harmed her ability to report on Epstein’s network and the government’s handling of the case,” according to an article announcing the lawsuit on the website of Phang’s employers.
“As a journalist who has extensively covered Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, she contends that incomplete and improperly redacted records undermine both her work and the public’s right to transparency.”
The lawsuit, the article said, “emphasizes that the transparency law was explicitly intended to aid journalists and inform the public” while delivering “long-demanded accountability”.
The legal filing states: “This case is about defendant Todd Blanche’s brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.” A hearing date has not yet been set.
The Guardian has contacted the DoJ for comment.
The action is the latest effort at enforcement of the act, which was authored by Ro Khanna, a Democratic Californian congressman, and by Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican.
In a post on X on Monday, Khanna said Phang had brought “a historic lawsuit to stand up for survivors and for the release of all Epstein files as [the] law requires”.
He added: “This is one of the biggest coverups in the history of our nation. There must not be two tiers of justice.”
Last week in a news release, the OIG’s deputy inspector general, William M Blier, said the “preliminary objective” of its internal inquiry was to evaluate the DoJ’s processes for identifying, redacting and releasing records in its possession as required by the act.
