US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News the Department of Justice would not release “several hundred thousand” of the documents relating to the infamous child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein by today’s deadline, as required by US law.
Democracy Docket notes how this violates US law.:
He said the DOJ would release hundreds of thousands of files later Friday — a fraction of its materials on Epstein — and “several hundred thousand more” documents over the next couple of weeks — a delay that is not allowed under the new law.
Blanche, who was formerly one of Trump’s personal attorneys, claimed that the DOJ needed additional time to redact the files in order to protect victims. However, the law had already given the department 30 days to process the material, and the FBI started an extensive review and redaction process on the documents in March.
The law in question, which Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed last month, requires the department to release all of the material it had gathered over the past two decades through investigations into Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women and underage girls.
The materials include “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” it has on Epstein, his associates or entities with ties to his trafficking or financial networks.
(Sources: Fox News, Democracy Docket)