A federal judge in New York has rejected a request by two US lawmakers, including Ro Khanna, to have court supervision of the Justice Department’s compliance with a law requiring the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The judge, Paul Engelmayer, denied the request for a “Special Master and/or Independent Monitor” to oversee the department’s handling of disclosures mandated under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. While acknowledging the concerns raised by the lawmakers and victims as important and timely, the judge stated that the court lacked the authority to grant the relief sought in the context of the concluded criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell.
Engelmayer highlighted that the Representatives did not explain how the criminal statutes under which Maxwell was charged would enable the court to enforce the EFTA. He emphasized that the law did not empower the court to intervene in a civil records-disclosure matter beyond the scope of the closed criminal case. The lawmakers had alleged that the Justice Department missed a mid-December deadline, failed to submit a required report to Congress, and released heavily redacted files, along with improperly withholding and retracting some documents.
The judge also ruled that the lawmakers could not participate in the case as amici curiae, stating that their involvement was unrelated to the matters before the court. While the court could not appoint a neutral overseer to monitor the Justice Department’s compliance with the statute, the ruling did not preclude other avenues for oversight. Congress had passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, directing the release of documents by a December deadline, with the Justice Department subsequently releasing investigative records but lawmakers arguing that the disclosures fell short of the law’s requirements.
