Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department should be able to “turn the page” on the Jeffrey Epstein records controversy, drawing immediate pushback from lawmakers who say significant material remains withheld. In a Thursday interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Blanche said the “Epstein files…should not be a part of anything going forward” even as congressional investigators continue to press the department for additional documents.
Blanche defended former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose ouster by President Trump drew scrutiny amid questions about the department’s handling of Epstein-related records. “Bondi and I appeared in front of Congress voluntarily a couple weeks ago to answer any questions they had,” Blanche told Watters, and he repeated a DOJ offer for lawmakers to review unredacted files at the department’s offices. “What happened when the president signed the [Epstein Files] Transparency Act is the Department of Justice has now released all the files with respect to the Epstein saga and the attorney general,” he said, adding the controversy should not continue to define the department.
The Justice Department has not, by its own accounting, released all of the material lawmakers say the law requires. The department initially estimated roughly 6 million pages of records existed; it has publicly released about 3 million pages and said it withheld duplicates and “other records.” Those actions have fueled accusations from both Democrats and Republicans that the department is failing to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the DOJ still has not fulfilled its legal obligations. “This is a lie. About 50% of the files have been released and per our subpoena it’s illegal to withhold them,” Garcia posted on X, adding that oversight is ongoing. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned Blanche directly after his elevation to acting attorney general, posting on X that Blanche has “30 days to release the rest of the files before becoming criminally liable for failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Some of the controversy has centered on specific, highly sensitive records. Reporters tracking the releases said the department initially withheld records tied to a woman who told the FBI she had been abused by the president as a minor and who met with investigators four times; the DOJ subsequently released additional files it said had been withheld in error, but reporters noted page numbers suggesting roughly 30 pages from that set remain missing. Lawmakers have seized on such discrepancies as proof the department has not been fully transparent.
Blanche’s remarks — that the files belong to the past and should not shape the department’s future — appear aimed at drawing a line under months of public scrutiny. But the expressed willingness of members of both parties to pursue the matter, and the continued dispute over the quantity and content of withheld pages, indicate the Epstein files saga is unlikely to fade quickly. Oversight investigators have signaled they will continue to press for full compliance with the statute and the committee subpoena until they are satisfied the department has produced all required material.