Political leaders are reacting to what the Department of Justice says is its last release of files related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Department of Justice says it is done reviewing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Last week, the department dropped more than 3 million pages. In the most recent batch, President Trump was mentioned at least a thousand times. Also mentioned was billionaire Elon Musk. Mentions in the files don’t necessarily indicate wrongdoing. NPR’s Saige Miller reports on reaction from political leaders.
SAIGE MILLER, BYLINE: The Epstein files continue to be a headache for President Trump. Aboard Air Force One over the weekend, he threatened to sue the Epstein Estate and journalist Michael Wolff, who wrote a critical book about Trump.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He was conspiring with Wolff to do harm to me politically. That’s not a friend.
MILLER: Elon Musk is another prominent figure who has come under fire for emails he sent to Epstein. In one email, Musk asked what day would be the wildest party on Epstein’s island. On his social media platform X, Musk said he never went to the island. He said what matters most is prosecuting those who have committed crimes with Epstein. Musk added, quote, “when there is at least one arrest, some justice will have been done. If not, this is all performative.” Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche responded on CNN. He said he stands by the department’s work to comply with Congress’s law, which mandated the release.
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TODD BLANCHE: We then released over 3.5 million pieces of paper, which the entire world can look at now and see if we got it wrong. And so it’s not performative, and I respectfully disagree with that statement.
MILLER: When asked if there would be any prosecutions related to the files, Blanche gave a nonanswer.
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TODD BLANCHE: We need to separate those two ideas, the fact that there’s the Epstein files and whether there’s anybody there that we can go after and the work that we are doing every day, which is extraordinary. And we will continue to do that.
MILLER: But California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told NBC he still doesn’t think the DOJ is following the law.
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RO KHANNA: They’ve released, at best, half the documents, but even those shock the conscience of this country. It’s frankly one of the largest scandals, in my view, in our country’s history, and there is a demand for elite accountability.
MILLER: Khanna says he is prepared to push for holding Blanche and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress or even considering impeachment.
Saige Miller, NPR News.
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