Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Senate Democrats are gearing up for legal action following the DOJ's dump of Epstein documents. Schumer argued that the agency didn't comply with federal law. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
"Simply releasing a mountain of blacked-out pages violates the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law," Schumer said in a statement. "For example, all 119 pages of one document were completely blacked out. We need answers as to why."
"Senate Democrats are working to assess the documents that have been released to determine what actions must be taken to hold the Trump administration accountable," he continued. "We will pursue every option to make sure the truth comes out."
The law required that the DOJ release all unclassified records related to Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, known associates and entities linked to Epstein and Maxwell, internal DOJ decision-making on the Epstein case, records on destroying or tampering with documents, and all documents on his detention and death.
DOJ FACES FRIDAY DEADLINE TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES AS LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR TRANSPARENCY
Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, June 5, 2025 (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But it was the inclusion of several heavily redacted documents without explanation as to why they were blacked out that raised lawmakers’ eyebrows.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who also is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Friday's release "could have been a win for survivors, accountability, and transparency to the public. It wasn’t."
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He accused the Trump administration of breaking the law with how it handled the document dump and vowed that the Judiciary Committee would investigate.
"Senate Judiciary Democrats will investigate this violation of law and make sure the American people know about it," Durbin said in a statement. "The survivors deserve better. It’s clear Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are working for the rich and powerful elites — and not you."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-accuses-doj-breaking-law-over-redacted-epstein-files