US Justice Department handling of Epstein file release sparks backlash

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bipartisan anger over the U.S. Department of Justice's slow release of Jeffrey Epstein documents grew on Monday as lawmakers threatened to launch an effort to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress and former President Bill Clinton sought the immediate release of any documents involving him.

"The DOJ needs to quit protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected," Representative Thomas Massie, a maverick conservative Republican from Kentucky, said in a posting on X.

The Justice Department released thousands of documents on Friday related to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who committed suicide in 2019.

The saga over the Epstein files, which has been dragging on for years, has caused a rift within the Republican Party, with MAGA supporters, who make up President Donald Trump's core voters, clamoring for full disclosure of Epstein documents.

Trump has at times called the episode a Democratic "hoax," but has also signed into law a bill requiring the full disclosure.

At a press conference on Monday that was mainly devoted to administration announcements on the building of new U.S. Navy ships, Trump was asked about the Epstein files and pictures that possibly portray former President Bill Clinton in the files being released.

"I don't like pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don't like pictures of others being shown, it's a terrible thing," Trump said.

"A lot of Republicans are angry because of the fact that it's just used to deflect against a tremendous success" by the administration, Trump said.

Earlier on Monday, Clinton spokesman Angel Urena issued a statement urging Bondi to immediately release any remaining materials in the Epstein case that refer to Clinton in any way, including photographs. "Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what or why. But we do know this," Urena said, adding, "We need no such protection."

Urena said there is "widespread suspicion" the Justice Department is "using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice." He did not detail who else harbored that suspicion.

Massie and liberal Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California said they are working together, along with other unnamed lawmakers, on an effort to dislodge documents surrounding investigations of Epstein.

The two lawmakers said in an interview on MS Now that if necessary they would seek contempt of Congress charges in the House of Representatives for Bondi next month. They said that if their demands were not met following a "30-day grace period," they would work to have Congress seek fines of up to $5,000 per day until the documents are dispatched.

Also on Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that would instruct Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, to undertake "appropriate" legal steps to gain congressional access to all the documents covered by legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump. It was not clear whether his effort might advance in the Senate when it returns on January 5 from a holiday recess.

Thune's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin said the agency "will continue to release thousands of pages of material, and no redactions will be made to protect any famous or politically sensitive people."

The Justice Department on Friday and Saturday sent to Congress two batches of Epstein documents, which failed to silence critics' attacks on how the effort was being handled.

The agency failed to meet its deadline of last Friday for complying with a "transparency" law requiring broad release of remaining Epstein files.

On Monday, a group identifying itself as survivors of abuse by Epstein complained in a statement that the public so far has received "a fraction of the files" and that those were "riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation." They added that some victim identities were left unredacted.

The Justice Department has said it is working to clear more documents for release to Congress.