Top Trump Goon Sued for Failing to Release the Epstein Files

Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche is facing a lawsuit for failing to make the complete Jeffrey Epstein files public, as required by law.

The complaint was filed on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., by attorney and political commentator Katie Phang. Ms. Phang leveled scathing criticism against Mr. Blanche and demanded that the Department of Justice release all documents, while also providing an explanation for any redactions or withholdings that have occurred.

Ms. Phang also asks the courts to appoint an independent expert to ensure that Mr. Blanche complies with the law.

The 15-page complaint states: “This case is about Defendant Todd Blanche’s brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,”

The complaint argues that the Department of Justice’s failure to comply with the law and release the records has caused harm to Ms. Phang in her capacity as a journalist who has provided extensive media coverage of the convicted sex offender.

The complaint notes that “Phang’s inability to report with substance on all of the documents she should be able to access has hurt her ability to do her job, and made it harder to fulfill her mission as a journalist and legal analyst,”

This legal action follows the passage by Congress last November of the “Epstein Records Transparency Act”—legislation that mandated the release of all documents—subject only to limited redactions—within 30 days of its enactment.

However, the Department of Justice failed to meet the December deadline. Although several months have passed since then, he has still not released the files in their entirety, nor provided a comprehensive explanation regarding the redactions he implemented.

Critics have accused the Department of Justice of orchestrating a vast cover-up operation for the benefit of President Donald Trump—whose name appears thousands of times in the Epstein files and who was long considered a close associate of the pedophile.

On February 2, the Department of Justice released what it presented as the “final” batch of documents, accompanied by a six-page letter summarizing the categories of records that had been withheld, as well as the justification for these redactions.

The allegations set forth in the complaint are not limited solely to the Department of Justice’s failure to provide explanations regarding its redactions; they also accuse the Department of having carried out improper redactions that do not comply with the provisions of the law. Specifically, the law was designed to protect victims while prohibiting the withholding of information concerning alleged accomplices to the crimes committed.

Fang is seeking a court order compelling the Department of Justice to disclose all documents whose release is mandated by law but which have not yet been made public. Furthermore, she demands the removal of any redactions applied illegally, as well as the provision of explanations for any other redactions that remain in place.

Additionally, Fang is calling for the appointment of a “Special Master” tasked with ensuring that the Department—under Blanche’s leadership—complies with all legal requirements. This legal action follows statements made earlier this month by Blanche—who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney—claiming that the Department of Justice had made public all documents it intended to disclose.

In a statement to Fox News earlier this month, Blanche asserted:“We have released everything,” “We reviewed six million pieces of paper. What we released, anything associated with the Epstein files, so we are not sitting on a single piece of paper. Nothing that should be released.”

Although Blanche stated that six million pages had been reviewed, only approximately 3.5 million pages were actually made public, suggesting that millions of documents remain withheld.

Blanche took charge of the Department of Justice earlier this month, following Trump’s dismissal of the former Attorney General, Pam Bondi.

This occurred just days before Bondi was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee to be questioned under oath regarding the administration’s handling of the documents in question.

Prior to the scheduled hearing, the Department of Justice argued that Bondi was no longer required to comply with the subpoena, given that she no longer held the position of Attorney General. This stance sparked a wave of bipartisan outrage; however, no new date has yet been set for Bondi’s appearance before the committee.

Immediately following his appointment as her successor, Blanche declared that it was time to turn the page on the “Epstein files” issue, emphatically asserting that the administration had demonstrated “total transparency” in its handling of these records.

However, last week, the Department of Justice revealed that the Office of the Inspector General would conduct an audit to assess the Department’s compliance with the “Epstein Records Transparency Act.”

In this context, William Blair—a seasoned senior official at the Department of Justice currently serving as Acting Inspector General—stated in a press release that the objective of this audit was to “evaluate the procedures and processes followed by the Department of Justice to identify documents in its possession, redact portions thereof, and make them available for release, in accordance with the requirements of the aforementioned Act.”

However, just days before this announcement was issued, the President had also appointed Don Berrissem—another experienced federal watchdog—to the position of Inspector General of the Department of Justice on a permanent basis.