Shocker: Despite Trump’s Own Order, the DOJ Says It Won’t Release All the Epstein Files Today

In a move that no one, anywhere, could possibly have predicted or anticipated, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice admitted on Friday morning that it would not, in fact, meet the requirement of Donald Trump’s own signed piece of legislation from a month ago, which mandated the full release of all non-exempt files related to the investigation of financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein by Friday, Dec. 19. Speaking to FOX News, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was given the job of sacrificial lamb, presumably because Pam Bondi no longer wants to face down even the most tepid questions on the issue, telling the network that “several hundred thousand” files would indeed be released today, but that “several hundred thousand” more would still be held back, theoretically dripped to the public in the near future. That is, until the DOJ finds reason to delay and obfuscate the next round yet again, or redacts it until it’s a single smudge of black ink.

“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” said Blanche. “There’s a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we are producing, that we are protecting every single victim.”

In short, the failure to deliver the full files on the set date means that the DOJ and White House have officially broken the law that Trump signed a month ago. Congressional Democrats were quick to pile on and make these types of proclamations. Per Senate Minority Leader/wet blanket Chuck Schumer: “The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be — the Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth.”

Trump may actually hear more raucous shouting on this issue from within Republican ranks, particularly from the likes of recent foe Rep. Thomas Massie (KY), who sponsored the legislation to demand the release of the Epstein Files alongside an unlikely ally in Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (CA). In a video posted on Twitter yesterday, Massie was still essentially clamoring for the Epstein “client list” that Pam Bondi once said was sitting on her desk, but the DOJ eventually proclaimed never actually existed. Massie in his video stated that he believes the FBI has the names of at least 20 men accused to committing sex crimes connected to Epstein, and he proclaimed that he wants to see the names of the accused released in the documents that the DOJ is required by law to turn over.

“If we get a large production on Dec. 19, and it does not contain a single name of any male who is accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven’t produced all the documents,” Massie said in his video. “It’s that simple.” In the hours leading up to the intended release of the Epstein Files, Massie was more or less pacing Twitter like a caged tiger at the zoo, angrily pointing at his wristwatch. Look at this passive-aggressive soul.

Despite our sarcasm above, that the DOJ would miss Trump’s own deadline shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has been paying attention to reporting on the huge effort of redacting the hundreds of thousands of documents that comprise what we’ve all come to call the “Epstein Files.” CNN was reporting that the process would “come down to the wire,” and that every available lawyer and counterintelligence special had essentially been shanghaied into working on the project in recent days. Surely that kind of under-the-gun, rush job deployment will result in the highest quality results, yes?

The only question now is how spineless members of Congress will be in their reaction to Trump’s lackeys at the DOJ deciding to ignore the letter of the law. Judiciary and Oversight Committee members promised to explore “all legal options.”

“Courts around the country have repeatedly intervened when this Administration has broken the law,” said a statement from Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD) and Rep. Robert Garcia (CA). “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law. The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DOJ.”