DOJ Official Defies Impeachment Over Epstein Files
‘Bring it on’ — Top Justice Department Official Defies Impeachment Threats Over Epstein Files
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche displayed a bold and unyielding stance when confronted with possible legal repercussions for the Justice Department’s incomplete disclosure of files connected to the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
During a Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, Blanche addressed remarks from congressional members who are considering impeachment proceedings or contempt charges, and whether he views these threats as credible.
“Not even a little bit. Bring it on,” Blanche responded firmly. “We are doing everything we’re supposed to be doing to comply with this statute.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act mandated that the Trump administration release the complete set of Epstein-related documents by Friday, allowing exceptions solely to safeguard victims’ personal information.
However, the released materials constitute merely a small portion of the entire collection, with numerous pages featuring extensive redactions that obscure significant details.
This partial release prompted Rep. Ro Khanna, a primary advocate for the broadly supported bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, to caution that the Justice Department is failing to adhere to the legal requirements.
Rep. Thomas Massie, another key figure in the campaign to unseal the Epstein documents, posted on social media that a subsequent Department of Justice administration might pursue criminal convictions against Attorney General Pam Bondi and her associates, declaring “THEY ARE FLAUNTING LAW.”
On Friday, Khanna revealed that he and Massie have begun preparing articles of impeachment and inherent contempt resolutions targeting Bondi, although they remain undecided on proceeding further at this stage.
“Impeachment is a political decision and is there the support in the House of Representatives? I mean Massie and I aren’t going to just do something for the show of it,” Khanna stated to CNN.
Blanche countered on Sunday by asserting that the congressional critics “have no idea what they’re talking about.” He elaborated that the archive comprises approximately one million pages of documents, nearly all of which include sensitive victim information necessitating protection under the law.
Furthermore, Blanche contended that disseminating the Epstein files progressively over several weeks, rather than in a single batch on the stipulated Friday deadline, fully satisfies the statutory obligations enacted by Congress.
“There is well settled law, as they should know, that in a case like this where we’re required to produce within a certain amount of time, but also comply with other laws like redacting information, that very much trumps … some deadline in the statute,” Blanche explained.
