Sen Dick Durbin pledges investigation of Justice Department’s Epstein files disclosure
EAST ST LOUIS, ILLINOIS: Ranking member of the Senate, Democratic leader Dick Durbin, was among the several democratic leaders who criticized the partial release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice on Saturday, December 20.
The senator criticized the DOJ and the Trump administration for “violating federal law” by not releasing all the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein by Friday, a deadline set for them as per the 'Epstein Files Transparency Act'.
In a statement, the senator promised the nation that the Senate Judiciary Democrats would start an investigation into the recently released Epstein files.
Dick Durbin accuses DOJ of choosing Trump over survivors
Durbin said that the DOJ's release of the Epstein files “could have been a win” for survivors. However, it wasn’t, and Durbin cited the lack of accountability and transparency to the public.
He stated that the Trump administration “manhandled” the Epstein files all year and was now violating the federal law to “protect the rich and powerful.”
The senator added that Congress had to use force for Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino to “even consider providing justice.”
Dick Durbin stated that the Department of Justice and the FBI had a choice to make between the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. “They chose the latter,” he added.
Ro Khanna, the co-author of the 'Epstein Files Transparency Act', also condemned the DOJ after the release of the files.
He took to X on Friday and Saturday to express his views, noting that the DOJ “failed to comply with the law” that was authored by him and Thomas Massie.
DOJ fails to meet deadline for releasing Epstein files
As per the 'Epstein Files Transparency Act', the Department of Justice had until Friday to release all materials in its possession related to Jeffrey Epstein.
However, hours before the deadline, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ‘Fox News’ that while the Justice Department was set to release “hundreds of thousands” of documents in different formats, it would continue to release more over the coming weeks.
Several democratic leaders objected to the partial release of the files, and their anger was aggravated after seeing the unexplained redactions in documents released on Friday.
