WASHINGTON, D.C.— Following is a statement by Amb. (ret) Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, on the Department of Justice’s release of files relating to the Epstein investigation, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“For nearly a year, the Department of Justice has slow-walked, withheld, and stonewalled in order to keep the public from seeing what these records may reveal about Donald Trump’s ties to a convicted sex offender and human trafficker.

“Meanwhile, we know they have searched the records for references to the President, Mar-a-Lago, and more and, after meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, orchestrated her move to a cushy facility.

“Now the DOJ is brazenly defying Congress by refusing to release all the records mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They admit hundreds of thousands more have not been released. And what they have released is clearly incomplete and appears to be over-redacted to boot. A federal statute is not a suggestion and this will not stand.

“In the hours and days ahead, we will scrutinize every page. We have pending litigation and are prepared to deploy every legal remedy to force the Trump administration’s hand and compel full production of the complete record, while taking every step to protect the privacy of the victims.”

In August, DDF filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s DOJ over the refusal to release the Trump-Epstein files. The lawsuit follows a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests DDF has made to the federal government seeking records from its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

The organization is specifically seeking records mentioning President Trump or his Mar-a-Lago residence, as well as communications among top DOJ leaders relating to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, including discussions of how department officials should address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago in any files. The requests also seek records of any communications between top leadership at DOJ and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) related to the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a cushy prison camp, following her meeting with Trump’s former personal attorney, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.