Judge says lawmakers can sue to secure release of Epstein files, but not as part of Maxwell case

NEW YORK (AP) — Congressional sponsors of a law forcing the Justice Department to disclose its files on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell can sue to get a court-appointed monitor to ensure compliance, but they lack the legal right to attach their request to her criminal case, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Paul A. blocked Engelmayer, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, and Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, declined to intervene in Maxwell’s sex trafficking case. Lawmakers, whose Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law in November by President Donald Trump, filed a petition with a judge last week in an attempt to speed up public disclosure of files related to investigations into the late financier and Maxwell, a longtime confidant of him.

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Engelmayer largely agreed with the Justice Department’s insistence that he, as the judge overseeing the Maxwell case, did not have the authority to grant Khanna and Massey’s request for an independent monitor to ensure the immediate release of more than 2 million documents the government has identified as investigative material.

Khanna and Massey said the slow release of the documents violates the law and causes “serious trauma to survivors.”

Regardless of the possibility of a lawsuit, lawmakers are free to use their legislative tools to improve oversight of the Justice Department, Engelmayer wrote. The Epstein Act, which was passed after months of public and political pressure, contains no mechanisms or sanctions to ensure compliance.

“We appreciate Judge Engelmayer’s timely response and attention to our request, and we respect his decision,” Khanna said in a statement. He added: “He said we raised ‘legitimate concerns’ about whether the Department of Justice was abiding by the law. We will continue to use every legal option to ensure the files are released and survivors see justice.”

After passing a December 19 deadline set by Congress to release all files, the Justice Department said hundreds of lawyers reviewed not-yet-disclosed records to determine what should be redacted or redacted to protect the identities of hundreds of sexual assault victims. So far, only about 12,000 documents have been published.

Engelmayer said the questions raised by Khanna and Massey about whether the department is adhering to the law are “undoubtedly important and timely.” But he said the way members of Congress are trying to interfere is not permissible.

Engelmayer inherited the Maxwell case after the trial judge, Alison Nathan, was appointed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He ruled that he had no authority to oversee the department’s compliance with the new law, and that Massey and Khanna had no standing or legal right to infiltrate the Maxwell case.

Engelmayer said he has received letters and emails from survivors of Epstein’s abuse in support of lawmakers’ request to appoint a neutral supervisor.

“This expresses concern that the Department of Justice will not otherwise comply with the law,” wrote the judge, nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama.

The administration “talks down to the victims” and “fails to treat us” with the care we deserve, survivors wrote, according to Engelmeyer.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021. She recently filed a petition in federal court for her release, asserting that new information has come to light that justifies her release. The jury found that she helped recruit girls for Epstein’s abuse over the past quarter-century and also participated in some of the abuse.

Epstein died in a federal prison in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.