House Democrat Says ‘Congress Is Talking About Possible Impeachment’ of DOJ Officials After Partial Epstein Files Release

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said that Department of Justice officials may have obstructed justice with their partial and heavily redacted release of the Epstein files.

On Friday, the DOJ released a trove of documents regarding deceased child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. However, DOJ officials said they need more time to release the remaining materials. Last month, Congress passed a bill that President Donald Trump signed into law, mandating that all files be released by Dec. 19, and with redactions only to protect the identities of victims.

Instead, the DOJ released only some of the files, which were heavily redacted. Fox News reported on Friday that the DOJ had redacted the names of “politically exposed individuals.” Moreover, some of the images released feature redactions of people who seem to be adults. The release was overseen by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as a personal attorney for Trump, a former friend of Epstein. Over the summer, Blanche interviewed former Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. Maxwell claimed that she never saw Trump do anything untoward. Shortly after the meeting, Maxwell was moved to a lower security facility, where she receives custom meals and is allowed to play with dogs.

Khanna appeared on Friday’s AC360 on CNN, where guest host John King asked if the congressman would take the release at face value.

“The deputy attorney general said he’s received no orders from the president to redact documents to leave his name out of it and leave other names out of it,” King said. “Do you trust that?”

Khanna replied:

Well, I don’t know what the president has said, but what I do know is that [Blanche’s] production violates the spirit of the law, and it violates the letter of the law, and it’s a slap in the face of survivors. And so, look, they have underestimated this issue for six months. I don’t get it. Just release the files, get it over with. The president can talk about affordability and the economy. They’re the ones who continue to play these games that make this a bigger and bigger issue.

And Congress is talking about possible impeachment. They’re talking about inherent contempt for the attorney general or deputy attorney general. Any justice department official who has obstructed justice could face prosecution in this administration or a future administration.

And the last word, like I said, is gonna be the survivors. Americans don’t trust politicians that much. They trust those women, and they are going to be back on The Hill. And the country will hear from them.

This summer, The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi had told Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files.

Watch above via CNN.