US lawmakers grill attorney general over Epstein file release

"You're running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice," said Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

"You've been ordered by subpoena and by Congress to turn over six million documents, photographs and videos in the Epstein files, but you've turned over only three million," Raskin said.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed overwhelmingly by Congress in November, compelled the Justice Department to release all of the documents in its possession related to the disgraced financier within 30 days.

It required the redaction of the names or any other personally identifiable information about Epstein's victims, who numbered more than 1,000 according to the FBI.

But the powerful figures -- including politicians like President Donald Trump and multiple business tycoons -- who were friendly with Epstein could not be shielded, the law stated.

No records can be "withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary."

Raskin said that the names of "abusers, enablers, accomplices and co-conspirators" of Epstein have nevertheless been redacted, "apparently to spare them embarrassment and disgrace, which is the exact opposite of what the law ordered you to do."

"Even worse, you shockingly failed to redact many of the victims' names," he added.

Bondi, during her opening statement to the House committee, defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files.

"More than 500 attorneys and reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing millions of pages to comply with Congress's law," she said.

"We've released more than three million pages, including 180,000 images, to the public while doing our very best in the timeframe allotted by the legislation to protect victims," she said.

Epstein, who had ties to top business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minor girls. His death was ruled a suicide.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, is the only person behind bars in connection with Epstein.

Maxwell, 64, was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking underage girls to Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Trump fought for months to prevent release of the vast trove of documents about Epstein -- a longtime former friend -- but a rebellion among Republicans forced him to sign off on the law mandating release of all the records.

The move reflected intense political pressure to address what many Americans, including Trump's own supporters, have long suspected to be a cover-up to protect rich and powerful men in Epstein's orbit.