Justice Department asks judge to refuse special procedure

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge in New York to reject a request from two lawmakers to appoint a special master to oversee the release of records related to the late “financier and convicted sex offender” Jeffrey Epstein.

Since December, the ‍DOJ has released caches of documents related to its investigations into Epstein. But U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie “criticized” the department’s slowness.

Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, said last week that they had asked U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer to allow them to file a brief arguing for the appointment of a special master and independent monitor, given the Justice Department’s failure to fully comply with a law that requires the DOJ to release all Epstein-related documents by Dec. 19.

In a six-page letter filed Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that Khanna and Massie are not parties to the agreement. United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell case involving Epstein and should not be allowed to file a friend of the court request in this case.

“Representatives Khanna and Massie lack standing, their stated objectives are inconsistent with the role of amicus as well as the role of the Court, and in any event, there is no authority for the Court to grant the Representatives the relief they improperly seek,” the DOJ said in the letter signed by Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

The Justice Department said in late 2025 it had 5.2 million pages of Epstein files remaining to review and needed 400 lawyers from four different offices to help with the process through the end of January.