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Rep. Khanna backs survivor call to force Epstein Files release
: The congressman’s statement came after a survivor moved court over the delayed release of records
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 20, Jan 2026
- 11:30 EST
- 16
Ro Khanna / Ro Khanna website
Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna said the Department of Justice is in violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act after survivor Haley Robson asked a federal court to intervene and enforce the law, a month after its passage.
Khanna’s statement came after Robson filed a letter with U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman of the Southern District of New York, also sending a copy to Judge Paul Engelmayer, urging the court to require the Justice Department to comply with the statute and release long-withheld records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
Khanna, who sponsored the act, said the department had missed the Dec. 19, 2025 deadline to release the full set of records with redactions to protect survivors’ identities.
“Today marks one month since the Dec. 19 deadline for the Department of Justice to release the full Epstein files with redactions to protect the identities of the survivors,” Khanna said.
“The passage of my law was only possible because of Haley Robson and the survivors who courageously shared their stories and demanded justice and transparency,” he added.
He said the department’s failure to release the full files was “a betrayal of the survivors and a flagrant violation of the law,” and said key materials remain undisclosed, including FBI 302 victim interview statements, a draft indictment and prosecution memorandum prepared during the 2007 Florida investigation, and hundreds of thousands of emails and files taken from Epstein’s computers.
“Refusing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions,” he said.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed by Congress late last year to compel the release of federal records related to Epstein and his network, following years of criticism over secrecy surrounding the handling of the case. The law requires the Justice Department to publish unclassified records within 30 days while protecting the identities of survivors.
So far, the department has released a large volume of documents, but many of them were already public, prompting criticism from survivors and lawmakers that the most important materials are still being withheld.
Robson, in her letter to the court, said the Justice Department has failed to release the records that matter most for accountability, including emails and other documents seized during the 2018 and 2019 investigations, victim interview statements, and the draft indictment and prosecution memorandum from the Florida case that granted Epstein a controversial plea deal.
“As survivors, this failure is not merely procedural—it is deeply personal,” Robson wrote, adding that continued noncompliance “perpetuates the same secrecy that allowed these crimes to continue unchecked for years.” She said survivors are seeking “accountability, transparency, and equal application of the law.”
The letter was filed after Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to an earlier order by Judge Engelmayer, who had denied a request by Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie to appoint a special master to oversee the release of the files. The Justice Department has said in court filings that it is still reviewing and redacting a large volume of material and that redactions are necessary to protect victims.
Robson asked the court to intervene to ensure the law is enforced as written, that disclosures are complete, and that documents are not improperly withheld or over-redacted. “We were promised transparency. We were promised action. We are still waiting,” she wrote.
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