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source_url: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5659394-khanna-massie-bondi-contempt-epstein/
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Khanna, Massie threaten ‘inherent contempt’ charges against Bondi over partial release of Epstein files
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Ca.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Sunday that the House should hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in “inherent contempt” over the Department of Justice (DOJ) [releasing an incomplete and heavily redacted tranche of files](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5657940-epstein-justice-department-document-dump/) related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.
Appearing together on [CBS News’s “Face the Nation,”](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas-massie-ro-khanna-face-the-nation-transcript-12-21-2025/) the lawmakers blasted Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, two days after the DOJ released documents related to the late sex offender in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Khanna and Massie co-sponsored.
“The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way, to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi,” Massie told host Margaret Brennan.
The Kentucky Republican added that he and Khanna are drafting a resolution to find Bondi in inherent contempt, while the California Democrat noted that such a measure would fine Bondi “for every day that she’s not releasing these documents.”
“Pam Bondi is breaking the law,” Khanna said. “And this is the corrupt system, the Epstein class that people are sick of. So, I believe we’re going to get bipartisan support in holding her accountable, and a committee of Congress should determine whether these redactions are justified or not.”
The DOJ told lawmakers in a letter obtained by The Hill on Friday it was releasing “hundreds of thousands” of documents in compliance with the legislation, which passed Congress with near-unanimous support and was [signed into law](https://thehill.com/homenews/5614156-trump-signs-epstein-transparency-act/) by President Trump last month.
But many of the documents were redacted, while over a dozen files — including a photo of Trump — [disappeared](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5658618-doj-redactions-epstein-files/) from the DOJ’s public database on Saturday. The department also [released](https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%206/EFTA00008744.pdf) a 119-page transcript of grand jury deliberations in the 2021 case of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice.
Khanna, though, criticized the DOJ on Sunday for heavily redacting the names of non-victims in the transcript. [Announcing on the social platform X](https://x.com/RoKhanna/status/2002774808321515630?s=20) that he and Massie are bringing inherent contempt charges against Bondi, the populist lawmaker said the two are taking “action to fight a corrupt system.”
Blanche, the president’s former personal attorney who oversaw Friday’s release of the files, [told Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386705034112) earlier this week that the DOJ [will release](https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5656765-blanche-says-doj-wont-release-full-esptein-files-to-congress-by-friday-deadline/) “several hundred thousand more” documents in the coming weeks.
He also [told NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-21-2025-n1313179) on Sunday that the removal of the aforementioned photos from the DOJ’s database [“has nothing to do” with Trump](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5658888-epstein-files-trump-documents-release/), but instead came after victims of Epstein and Maxwell expressed concern about their faces being publicized.
[Ghislaine Maxwell](
https://thehill.com/people/ghislaine-maxwell/ )
[Jeffrey Epstein](
https://thehill.com/people/jeffrey-epstein/ )
[Margaret Brennan](
https://thehill.com/people/margaret-brennan/ )
[Pam Bondi](
https://thehill.com/people/pam-bondi/ )
[Ro Khanna](
https://thehill.com/people/ro-khanna/ )
[Thomas Massie](
https://thehill.com/people/thomas-massie/ )
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