Rep. Raskin demands immediate review of unredacted Epstein files, accuses DOJ of covering for Trump

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding immediate access to unredacted Epstein files, ahead of Attorney General Pam Bondi's scheduled February 11 hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Raskin stated lawmakers needed to verify the DOJ was 'not redacting information on the basis that it could embarrass government officials or public figures.' The DOJ claimed to have identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but released only about half--including over 200,000 pages that DOJ redacted or withheld--while claiming full compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. On CNN's 'State of the Union,' Raskin called Blanche's comments 'astonishing' and accused the Justice Department of covering up for the president: 'He has never once attempted to make the transformation from being Donald Trump's personal criminal defense lawyer to the No. 2 person for the United States Department of Justice.' Raskin condemned the 'dribs and drabs' approach to releasing files and accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of 'refusing to comply with the law requiring disclosure.' Rep. Ro Khanna and other Democratic lawmakers disputed DOJ's compliance claims, noting the department withheld 'FBI 302 victim interview statements, a draft indictment and prosecution memorandum prepared during the 2007 Florida investigation, and hundreds of thousands of emails and files from Epstein's computers.'

"He has never once attempted to make the transformation from being Donald Trump's personal criminal defense lawyer to the No. 2 person for the United States Department of Justice" — Rep. Jamie Raskin on CNN describing Deputy AG Todd Blanche's handling of Epstein files release