Calls for penalties as outrage grows over limited release of Epstein files – US politics live | US politics
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Senate minority leader Schumer announces legal action for Epstein files
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer Announced Monday morning He is introducing a resolution that would force the Senate to take legal action against the justice department for refusing to release the full Epstein files.
“I am introducing a resolution directing the Senate to take legal action against the Department of Justice for its blatant disregard for the law by refusing to release the full Epstein files,” Schumer said on social media. “The American people deserve full transparency, and Senate Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to get it. This administration cannot be allowed to hide the truth.”
Other reactions of MPs after the publication of the document:
Ahead of the weekend, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, and Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the judiciary committee, said they were exploring all legal options in the wake of the heavily redacted document dumps that they said violated federal law.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer accused the administration of deliberately hiding the truth and said Senate Democrats would work with victims’ attorneys to determine what was withheld.
Before the deadline, five lawmakers from both parties (including Republican senator Lisa Murkowski and Democratic senator Jeff Merkley) had already written to Bondi requesting a briefing on compliance plans.
And on Friday evening, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted on social media saying, “Bondi should resign tonight” and “Everyone involved in this will have to be held accountable.”
Following the slow completion of the release of the Epstein dossier and the failure to turn over all files by the December 19 deadline, Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are moving toward penalties that would earn Attorney General Pam Bondi contempt of Congress.
Speaking on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, Khanna said the move would fine Bondi for each day she fails to release the documents and would only require House of Representatives approval.
“We only need the House out of inherent disrespect and building a bipartisan coalition, and Pam Bondi would be fined for every day she doesn’t release these documents,” he said.
The California Democrat said she spoke with survivors who were outraged that abusers’ names were removed while their own identities were mistakenly disclosed, and that there are still 1,200 victims waiting to be held accountable.
