Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California warned that Attorney General Pam Bondi could face inherent contempt of Congress or even impeachment if the Justice Department fails to release the Jeffrey Epstein files by the statutory deadline later this week. Khanna’s comments come as pressure intensifies ahead of the Dec. 19, 2025 deadline established under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law signed by President Donald Trump and passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support.
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The legislation requires the public release of federal investigative records related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, with limited redactions allowed to protect victims and ongoing investigations. As attorney general,
Bondi is responsible for overseeing compliance. Lawmakers from both parties have voiced concern that political considerations or internal delays could interfere with full transparency, arguing that failure to comply would undermine both congressional authority and public trust.
In a video posted to X, Khanna emphasized that multiple federal judges have already ordered the release of the files. He claimed that Justice Department officials who fail to comply could face obstruction of justice charges and said Bondi herself could be held in contempt of Congress or subjected to impeachment proceedings. Khanna pledged that Congress would continue pressing for full compliance until the law is executed as written.
As the deadline approaches, House Democrats released 68 images connected to Epstein that were obtained from his estate and made public through the House Oversight Committee. The photographs include images of several high-profile individuals, such as Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon, and Bill Gates, though committee officials stressed there is no indication of wrongdoing by those depicted. Lawmakers said the release was meant to highlight the volume of Epstein-related material still under federal control.
President Trump has repeatedly pointed to the legislation as evidence of his commitment to transparency, noting in a Truth Social post that he personally pushed congressional leaders to advance the bill. Trump said the Justice Department had already turned over nearly 50,000 pages of Epstein-related documents to Congress and criticized the Biden administration for failing to release any files or meaningfully address the investigation.
As of now, the Justice Department has not publicly detailed how the remaining materials will be released or in what format.[/read]