A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release unredacted FBI files concerning allegations against Donald Trump or explain why they should remain sealed, delivering a significant legal setback to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a transparency dispute over Jeffrey Epstein documents.
Court Demands Full Disclosure By July
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan sided with investigative journalist Katie Phang, ruling she has the legal right to sue over unreleased documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The judge gave the government until July 2 to either release the requested files in full or provide legal justification for keeping them secret. Sullivan’s 48-page opinion rejected the DOJ’s argument that Phang must instead pursue a Freedom of Information Act request, concluding that FOIA does not provide an adequate remedy in this case.
The ruling specifically covers FBI interview notes with a South Carolina woman who claimed Epstein introduced her to Trump in 1984 when she was approximately 13 years old. The woman alleged Trump forced her to perform a sexual act on him. Trump has consistently denied the allegation. Federal agents interviewed the woman four times in 2019 following Epstein’s arrest on federal child sex offense charges.
Transparency Act Compliance At Issue
Phang’s lawsuit accused Blanche of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act by failing to publish all documents the government holds about the convicted sex trafficker and by improperly redacting released materials. The DOJ has released roughly half of the six million pages of documents it collected on Epstein, with many disclosed files heavily redacted. Sullivan also ordered the agency to release a log listing every redaction made to published files, as required by the transparency law.
White House Maintains Trump’s Innocence
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously defended Trump, stating that the Justice Department under the previous administration knew about these accusations for four years and took no action because Trump did nothing wrong. The White House pointed to this inaction as evidence supporting the President’s total exoneration. Both the DOJ and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment following Thursday’s court decision. The woman’s detailed allegations were partially revealed in documents from the DOJ’s Epstein files release, though dozens of pages remain undisclosed according to reports.