WASHINGTON, Dec 23 — Bipartisan anger over the United States (US) Department of Justice's (DOJ) slow release of Jeffrey Epstein documents grew on Monday as lawmakers threatened to launch an effort to hold Attorney-General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress and former president Bill Clinton sought the immediate release of any documents involving him.
"The DOJ needs to quit protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected," Representative Thomas Massie, a maverick conservative Republican from Kentucky, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The DOJ released thousands of documents on Friday related to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who committed suicide in 2019.
The saga over the Epstein files, which has been dragging on for years, has caused a rift within the Republican Party, with MAGA supporters, who make up President Donald Trump's core voters, clamouring for full disclosure of Epstein documents.
Trump has at times called the episode a Democratic "hoax," but has also signed into law a bill requiring full disclosure.
At a press conference on Monday that was mainly devoted to administration announcements on the building of new US Navy ships, he was asked about the Epstein files and pictures that possibly portray former President Bill Clinton in the files being released.
"I do not like pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I do not like pictures of others being shown, it is a terrible thing.
"A lot of Republicans are angry because of the fact that it is just used to deflect against a tremendous success by the administration," Trump said.
Earlier on Monday, Clinton spokesman Angel Urena issued a statement urging Bondi to immediately release any remaining materials in the Epstein case that mention Clinton, including photographs.
"Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what, or why. But we do know this," she said, adding, "We need no such protection."
Urena noted that there is "widespread suspicion" that the DOJ is "using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice."
He did not detail who else harboured that suspicion.
Massie and liberal Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California said they are working with other unnamed lawmakers on an effort to obtain documents related to investigations into Epstein.
In an interview on MS Now, the two lawmakers said that, if necessary, they would seek contempt of Congress charges in the House of Representatives for Bondi next month.
If Massie and Khanna's demands were not met after a "30-day grace period," they would seek to have Congress impose fines of up to US$5,000 (RM20,347) per day until the documents are dispatched.
Also on Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that would instruct Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, to undertake "appropriate" legal steps to gain congressional access to all the documents covered by legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump.
It was unclear whether his effort would advance in the Senate when it returns on January 5 from a holiday recess. Thune's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DOJ spokesman Chad Gilmartin said the agency "will continue to release thousands of pages of material, and no redactions will be made to protect any famous or politically sensitive people."
On Friday and Saturday, the DOJ sent to Congress two batches of Epstein documents, which failed to silence critics' attacks on how the effort was being handled.
The agency failed to meet its deadline of last Friday for complying with a "transparency" law requiring the broad release of remaining Epstein files.
On Monday, a group identifying itself as survivors of abuse by Epstein complained in a statement that the public so far has received "a fraction of the files" and that those were "riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation." They added that some victim identities were left unredacted.
The DOJ has said it is working to clear more documents for release to Congress.
