As acting Attorney General Todd Blanche gears up to potentially be confirmed as the nation’s next top lawyer, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie wants to remind him and others of his handling of the Epstein files.
Massie, a Republican long central to the fight to force the release of the Epstein files, co-authored a letter Thursday to Blanche, pushing again for the full release of the files and fewer redactions.
“Congress passed the [Epstein Files Transparency Act] to provide disclosure, answers, and accountability,” the letter from Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and co-sponsor of EFTA, read, according to MS Now.
“By delaying release and relying on broad redactions, the DOJ is making it harder for journalists and the public to understand the truth,” the letter continued.
After being first filed in July 2025, the bill to make the unclassified parts of the Epstein files public became law in mid-November. Earlier this year, Blanche said the Justice Department had reviewed around six million files tied to the Epstein investigation.
Only around 3.5 million files, though, have been released, raising concerns of what happened to the rest. And lawmakers, journalists, and the public have questioned why certain parts of the files that have been released are redacted, while other parts—including victim information—were left publicly visible.
“Victim privacy must be protected, but that protection cannot be used as a blanket excuse to withhold records Congress required to be released,” Massie and Khanna’s letter read.
Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearing is set to begin Wednesday.
As Massie pushed for the release of and transparency around the Epstein files last fall, President Donald Trump pushed for someone to challenge him in the primary, endorsing Ed Gallrein before he even officially filed for the office.
The subsequent GOP primary race for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District ended up being the most expensive US House primary in history—and it ended with Massie, a nearly 14-year incumbent, losing by nearly double-digits.
Gallrein is set to face Democrat Melissa Strange in the November midterm elections.
