Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is escalating the battle over Jeffrey Epstein’s files, taking aim at the Justice Department for its botched release of documents and promising aggressive action to force transparency.
“I am introducing a resolution directing the Senate to initiate legal action against DoJ for its blatant disregard of the law in its refusal to release the complete Epstein files,” Schumer said on social media Monday. “The American people deserve full transparency, and Senate Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to ensure they get it. This administration cannot be allowed to hide the truth.”
If approved, the resolution would give the Senate the authority to file a lawsuit seeking a court order to force the Justice Department to release the remaining documents.
The move comes after the Trump administration failed to meet the December 19 deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed last month and Trump signed into law. That law required all documents related to Epstein to be released by that date. Instead, the department published only a portion of the files on Friday, providing more than 7,700 links to photos and court documents. Attorney General Pam Bondi called this release “the first phase,” even though missing the legal deadline means the administration broke the law.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the limited release on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. “The reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply … to protect victims,” he said, adding that critics “apparently don’t want us to protect victims.”
The partial release sparked further controversy over the weekend when the Justice Department temporarily removed an image containing a photograph of Donald Trump, only to restore it on Sunday.
Legal experts say Congress does have options, but enforcing compliance won’t be easy. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, noted that while Congress could hold Bondi or Blanche in contempt, any referral would go to the Justice Department itself, which is unlikely to prosecute its own officials, The Guardian reports.
Rahmani suggested Congress is more likely to pursue a lawsuit to compel the release of documents. Eric Faddis, a Colorado trial lawyer and former prosecutor, added that Congress could vote to hold officials in contempt, potentially allowing the sergeant at arms to detain them until they comply. Faddis also said officials could face federal charges for obstruction of Congress or evidence tampering if an investigation finds noncompliance—and suggested impeachment as another potential route.
Calls for accountability are already growing. California Representative Ro Khanna, who co-authored the transparency act, has called for impeachment proceedings against Bondi, a sentiment echoed by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, also a co-author, posted a screenshot of the 30-day deadline on social media, highlighting just how far past it the department is.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the release as “inadequate.” On ABC’s This Week Sunday, he said it “falls short of what the law requires” and noted that the Justice Department must provide “a written explanation to Congress and to the American people as to why they’ve withheld certain documents” within 15 days.
With missed deadlines, partial releases, and political firestorms, the Justice Department now faces the combined pressure of lawsuits, contempt proceedings, and even potential impeachment. The question remains whether it will finally comply—or continue to frustrate Congress and the public.
