Lawmakers want an independent “special master” to oversee the Trump administration’s release of its files on Jeffrey Epstein, which could help ensure that all documents are made public after the government failed to comply with a law mandating their release.
Key data
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., asked a federal judge last week to appoint a special master, or independent monitor, to oversee the government’s release of Epstein files.
The Justice Department was legally required to make public all of its documents on Epstein by Dec. 19, but has so far only released a small subset of the materials and has not provided clarity on when all the files will be released.
The DOJ’s failure to release the files has raised speculation among critics that the government will further delay their release and keep some documents hidden entirely, prompting the need for a third party to “ensure that all electronically stored documents and information are immediately made public,” Khanna and Massie wrote.
The special master, if appointed, would oversee the release of documents and submit reports to the court detailing “the true nature and extent of document production and whether improper redactions or other inappropriate conduct is taking place,” according to lawmakers.
A special master could put pressure on the Trump administration to release its full documents more quickly and ensure that no material that needs to be released remains hidden.
However, it is unclear how long the debate over the special master’s appointment will take, and it won’t be until next week at the earliest, after the court ordered the Trump administration to respond to Massie and Khanna’s request by Friday, and lawmakers to submit any response by Tuesday.
Continue reading: The Clintons refuse to testify about Epstein and now face possible contempt
Crucial ideals
“In the absence of an independent process… we do not believe the DOJ will produce the records required by the (Epstein Records Transparency Act),” Khanna and Massie wrote in their letter, which was filed in the criminal case file of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
How long will it take for Epstein’s files to be released?
It is not clear. The government suggested in court filings in early January that it would take DOJ officials at least several more weeks to review all the files in their possession, meaning full files would not be released until late January at the earliest. It is not known how long the government plans to take to make the documents public after reviewing them, or whether the DOJ could release documents in small batches as the review continues.
How many Epstein files have yet to be released?
Potentially more than a million, according to the Trump administration. The DOJ indicated in a Jan. 5 court filing that it has yet to review more than 2 million documents, although many could be duplicates from other files. Only 12,285 files have been released so far, less than 1% of all materials held by the government. Other reports suggest that as of early January the number of documents remaining was close to five million, while Khanna and Massie speculated in their court filing that the Trump administration may be intentionally exaggerating the number of files pending review to portray compliance with the law as “unmanageable” and delay disclosure.
What is a special teacher?
A special master is an independent third party that a court appoints to carry out a specific task on its behalf, such as overseeing some aspect of a case or handling evidence. Before the current debate over Epstein’s files, special masters made headlines in 2022, after the FBI raided President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. The president successfully petitioned the court to appoint a special master to review documents seized by the government at Mar-a-Lago, in order to filter out any material covered by executive privilege. The special master’s appointment was widely criticized for hampering the Biden administration’s criminal investigation into Trump’s withholding of classified documents by slowing down the process.
What happens if the DOJ doesn’t release Epstein files?
The Epstein Files Transparency Act provides no penalties if the government fails to release the files, and the Trump administration almost certainly will not prosecute itself. The law has no statute of limitations, so it is possible that a future Democratic administration could file criminal charges against DOJ officials who do not release the files, according to Khanna and Massie, and Democrats in Congress could take additional legal steps to force the release of the documents if the DOJ continues to withhold them.
Key background
Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November amid public outrage over the documents, after DOJ officials said over the summer that they would not voluntarily release any more materials. Epstein died in prison in 2019 after being accused of sex trafficking, but his case has continued to be a source of great public interest, given the financier’s circle of friends and high-profile business associates.
Read also: Only 1% of Epstein files were published; the rest could take weeks to do
Lawmakers moved to demand the release of Epstein’s files after the DOJ refused to do so, passing the federal law in addition to launching an investigation through the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed the DOJ to obtain his files.
The DOJ has released several batches of documents since the Dec. 19 deadline, including photos of former President Bill Clinton and flight logs that suggest President Donald Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane with only the financier and a 20-year-old woman.
However, the government has not released many of the materials about Epstein that are believed to be the most informative, such as documents indicating whether any of Epstein’s associates may have been investigated, and the DOJ has been criticized for technical errors and incorrect redactions in the files. Neither Clinton nor Trump have been accused of any financial-related crime.
This article was originally published on Forbes US
