Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on June 17, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic proposal to sue the Trump administration over allegations that it did not fully declassify the Epstein files, as required by legislation approved unanimously by senators and signed by the president nearly three months ago.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked for unanimous approval of one resolution They are forcing the Republican-led Senate to court President Donald Trump to release more records from the government’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney, said on Jan. 30 that the department had completed compliance with the fresh law following a final decision release 3 million pages, with 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. In total, the department has released about 3.5 million records since the law was passed.
The latest installment revealed a global network of numerous men in powerful positions communicating with Epstein.
Delayed and edited
The legal deadline for releasing the files was December 19th.
“Fifty days after the deadline, at best, by the Justice Department’s own admission, perhaps half of all available Epstein files have been released,” Schumer said on Thursday morning.
Schumer said many of the released records had been “redacted to an absurd extent.”
“This is not what the law says. This is a mockery of the truth and an insult to survivors. What makes this worse is the fact that the Justice Department has violated the law in over 1,000 cases and revealed the identities of over 100 victims. But do you know who the Justice Department appears to have been protecting? Epstein’s co-conspirators,” Schumer continued.
The minority leader included in the congressional record a letter he brought from about 20 Epstein victims denouncing the “reckless and dangerous” disclosure of the victims’ identities.
Senate Majority Leader John Barrasso, R-Wyo., blocked the resolution, calling it “another reckless political ploy designed to distract Americans from Democrats’ dangerous plan to shut down the Department of Homeland Security.”
Barrasso was referring to ongoing negotiations regarding DHS funding. Democrats called for changes to immigration enforcement after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis numerous other US citizens were injured by federal agents during Trump’s push into blue states.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., criticized Barrasso’s objection locally, calling it “morally wrong.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
A Justice Department official told the state newsroom in an email that the resolution represents “a tired narrative.”
“Just because you want something to be true doesn’t mean it is true. This Department has produced more than 3.5 million pages in accordance with the law and has been fully transparent in telling the public and Congress what items were left unanswered. I will assume that all members of Congress have read the actual language before voting on it, if not, ours.” Press release and the letter to Congress makes this clear,” the official wrote, adding a link to the department’s Jan. 30 press release.
“Hunger or thirst for information”
Blanche told reporters on Jan. 30, “There is a hunger or thirst for information that I don’t think can be satisfied by reviewing these documents. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
He said none of the information uncovered in the files would justify a fresh prosecution.
The fresh law, dubbed the Epstein Files Transparency Act by lawmakers, the DOJ demanded “To make publicly available all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the DOJ’s possession relating to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein,” including materials related to Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein avoided federal charges in 2008 when he pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in the state of Florida, including solicitation of a minor.
A 2007 draft federal indictment that included more severe charges was part of it the files released by the DOJ on January 30th.
