WASHINGTON — Five members of Congress from both parties and chambers are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to provide a briefing and status update by the end of this week on the legal release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Congress overwhelmingly passed a law requiring the Justice Department to release documents within 30 days of the Epstein Files Transparency Act being passed on November 19.
“In light of the short 30-day deadline to release the Epstein files, we are particularly focused on understanding the contents of any new evidence, information, or procedural hurdles that could interfere with the Department’s ability to meet this legal deadline,” the lawmakers wrote in their statement. Message to Bondi Dated December 3, it was first obtained by NBC News.
The signatories are Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon; Lisa Murkowski, Republican from Alaska; and Ben Ray Luján, Democrat of Kentucky, as well as the law’s lead authors, Reps. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California. In the letter, they expressed “a joint interest in supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to implement the provisions of this important new law.”
Lawmakers noted that the Justice Department announced an investigation into Epstein’s contacts with several prominent figures, including former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, citing new information, in response to a request from President Donald Trump.
“In the interest of transparency and clarity about the steps required to faithfully implement the Epstein Files Transparency Act, we request a briefing, either in a classified or unclassified location, to discuss the full contents of this new information in your possession at your convenience, but no later than Friday, December 5, 2025,” the lawmakers wrote.
They added that the law should be “fully implemented with critical safeguards to protect survivors,” as written in the law, and urged the Department of Justice to coordinate with victims and their lawyers to redact names appropriately and protect their privacy.
New law The measure is far-reaching, requiring public disclosure of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” possessed by the Department of Justice and the FBI relating to Epstein, entities with known or alleged relationships with the deceased sex offender, travel records, internal government communications about him, and records related to his death.
It is prohibited to withhold any information on the basis of “political sensitivity” or to prevent embarrassment to public figures. It contains limited permissible reasons for blocking, in order to protect the identity of victims and protect active investigations or prosecutions.
However, the law states that any decision to withhold documents that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution” must be “narrowly tailored and temporary.”