Senate Democrats threaten legal action after DOJ releases heavily redacted Epstein files

Senate Democrats are preparing for a court challenge and investigation in the wake of the Justice Department’s dumping of hundreds of thousands of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

They say Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department did not follow the law, which congress passed almost unanimously in both chambers last month.

“The heavily redacted documents released by the Department of Justice today are just a small part of the entire body of evidence,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who forced a successful Senate vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Schumer accuses Trump administration of Epstein files ‘cover-up’ amid documents dispute

“The mere publication of a mountain of blocked pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law,” Schumer said in a statement. “For example, all 119 pages in one document were completely blacked out. We need answers as to why.”

He continued: “Democrats in the Senate are working to evaluate the documents that were published to determine the measures that must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable.” “We will pursue all options to make sure the truth comes out.”

The law requires the Department of Justice to release all unclassified records relating to Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, known associates and entities associated with Epstein and Maxwell, the Justice Department’s internal decision-making process regarding the Epstein case, records of the destruction or tampering of documents, and all documents relating to his detention and death.

The Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release the Epstein files as lawmakers push for transparency

The Justice Department released a trove of Epstein documents on December 19 after President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

There were limited exceptions to what the government could choose not to release, including material revealing victims’ identities or medical files, child sexual abuse material, information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations, graphic images of death or injury, or classified national security information.

Schumer and congressional Democrats, along with some congressional Republicans, were already upset that the Justice Department would not get rid of every document in its possession by Friday’s deadline.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that day that the agency would take a phased approach and said he expected “we will be releasing more documents over the next two weeks,” as the Justice Department worked to comb through each document to ensure that “every victim, their name, their identity, their story, to the extent they need to be protected, is fully protected.”

The Justice Department is preparing to drop a large batch of Epstein files as the deadline approaches

Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, during a news conference outside the US Capitol in Washington, June 5, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But it was the inclusion of several heavily redacted documents without an explanation as to why they were withheld that caught lawmakers by surprise.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, also the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday’s release “could have been a win for survivors, accountability and transparency to the public. That was not the case.”

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He accused the Trump administration of violating the law through how it handled the document dump and pledged that the Judiciary Committee would investigate the matter.

“Democrats in the Senate Judiciary will investigate this violation of the law and make sure the American people are aware of it,” Durbin said in a statement. “Survivors deserve better. It is clear that Donald Trump and his Republican backers are working for the benefit of the rich and powerful elites — not for you.”