Justice Department asks judge to reject special master

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge in New York to deny a request by two lawmakers to appoint a special master to oversee the release of records related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

‍The Justice Department has released a cache of documents related to the Epstein investigation since December. But U.S. Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massey have criticized the department’s slow pace.

Mr. Khanna, a California Democrat, and Mr. Massey, a Kentucky Republican, said last week they asked U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer to allow them to file briefs arguing for the appointment of a special judge and an independent monitor, given the Justice Department’s failure to fully comply with a law that requires it to release all records related to Mr. Epstein by Dec. 19.

In a six-page letter filed Friday with U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that Mr. Khanna and Mr. Massey were not parties to the U.S. v. Ghislaine Maxwell case involving Mr. Epstein, and that their friends should not be allowed to bring their case to court in the matter.

“Representatives Khanna and Massey are unqualified, their stated objectives are inconsistent with the role of the court as well as the role of the court, and in any event, the court has no authority to authorize the Congressmen to grant the relief they are wrongfully seeking,” the Justice Department said in a letter signed by Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for assisting Epstein in sexually abusing underage girls.

The Justice Department announced in late 2025 that it needed to review 5.2 million pages of Epstein files and needed 400 lawyers from four different departments to help with the process by the end of January.