Khanna Warns Bondi: Congress Talking Impeachment Over Epstein Files
WASHINGTON — A dispute over the release of long-promised records connected to Jeffrey Epstein has escalated into a constitutional confrontation, as a Democratic lawmaker warned that the Justice Department’s handling of the documents may expose senior officials to impeachment and other sanctions.
Representative Ro Khanna said this week that the heavily redacted disclosure of Epstein-related materials violated both the “spirit and the letter” of federal law and represented a profound betrayal of survivors who were assured transparency after years of delay. His remarks were directed squarely at Attorney General Pam Bondi and the department she oversees.
“Survivors were promised the truth,” Mr. Khanna said. “Instead, they received pages blacked out in their entirety.”
The controversy centers on a recent release of documents that Justice Department officials had described in advance as substantial, involving hundreds of thousands of pages. Lawmakers, including Mr. Khanna and Representative Thomas Massie, initially signaled a willingness to proceed cautiously, acknowledging that a complete release might not be feasible all at once.
That restraint evaporated when the records were made public.
According to Mr. Khanna, the disclosure omitted some of the most consequential materials: a prosecution memorandum prepared for a Florida case, a draft indictment that could have named additional individuals allegedly involved in Epstein’s abuse network, and files recovered from Epstein’s computers. In some cases, he said, even documents that judges had previously ordered released were rendered unreadable by sweeping redactions.
“These are not minor gaps,” Mr. Khanna said. “They go directly to who else was involved, who enabled the abuse, and how the cover-up worked.”
Survivors and their attorneys have long maintained that such information exists within the government’s files. For them, Mr. Khanna said, the partial release was not merely disappointing but retraumatizing — raising expectations of accountability only to deliver silence.
The Justice Department has not publicly detailed the rationale behind each redaction, citing standard concerns such as privacy, ongoing investigations, and the protection of sensitive sources. But critics argue that those justifications ring hollow when applied so broadly that entire documents disappear from view.
The stakes, Mr. Khanna warned, now extend far beyond disclosure policy. He said members of Congress are openly discussing remedies that include impeachment, inherent contempt proceedings and the possibility of future prosecution for any officials found to have obstructed justice.
Inherent contempt — a power rooted in the Constitution but rarely used in modern times — allows Congress to enforce compliance with subpoenas directly. Impeachment, Mr. Khanna noted, does not require a criminal conviction, only evidence that an official failed to faithfully execute the law.
“This is no longer about politics,” he said. “It’s about whether the Justice Department can ignore a clear statute, defy court orders and still expect deference from Congress.”
The administration, Mr. Khanna argued, has compounded its own political problems by prolonging the issue. Had the documents been released months ago, he said, the government might have closed a painful chapter and moved on to other priorities. Instead, the drawn-out process has deepened public mistrust and amplified scrutiny.
Central to that scrutiny, Mr. Khanna emphasized, are the survivors themselves. He credited them — not lawmakers — with driving every significant advance on the issue through public testimony and press conferences. Several, he said, are preparing to return to Capitol Hill early next year to renew their demands.
“Americans don’t trust politicians very much,” Mr. Khanna said. “They trust these women. And when they speak, the country listens.”
Legal scholars say the episode underscores a recurring tension between executive authority and congressional oversight. While the Justice Department traditionally guards investigative materials closely, Congress has broad powers to demand information, particularly when legislation or court orders mandate disclosure.
The Epstein files, once viewed primarily as a matter of historical reckoning, have thus become a test of institutional accountability. At issue is not only what the government knows about Epstein’s crimes, but whether it is willing — or able — to reveal how far responsibility extended beyond a single, now-dead defendant.
As the debate intensifies, neither side appears ready to retreat. Lawmakers are signaling that patience has run out, while the Justice Department faces mounting pressure to justify its actions in detail.
For survivors, advocates say, the goal remains unchanged: full transparency and acknowledgment of the harm they endured. Whether that pursuit results in further document releases, congressional sanctions or a broader legal reckoning may determine how this chapter of the Epstein case is ultimately remembered — not as a closed file, but as a measure of how seriously the American system treats justice when powerful interests are implicated.
