Name: Epstein files release sparks criticism
Uploaded: 2025-12-22T20:25:34.372Z
Duration: 8 min 31 s
Description: Daniel Lippman, White House & Washington reporter for Politico, joins to discuss the latest release of files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein by the Department of Justice.

Daniel Lippman, White House & Washington reporter for Politico, joins to discuss the latest release of files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein by the Department of Justice.

Washington

The U.S. Justice Department released thousands of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, but withheld some files, prompting bipartisan criticism from Congress. Representatives Thomas Massey and Ro Khanna are seeking to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt, alleging non-compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and unlawful redactions.

The Department of Justice maintains that redactions are necessary to protect victims' identities and that more documents will be released in the coming weeks. While the released materials include images of public figures, no significant new revelations or charges have emerged. A House vote on contempt is expected after the congressional recess, though its outcome remains uncertain.

Epstein files release sparks criticism

The Justice Department released thousands of documents Friday on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But there are still more that weren't published before Friday's deadline. As a result, a bipartisan pair of congressmen want to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress. National correspondent Logan Raddick is live on Capitol Hill with more. Logan? Well Kelly, good afternoon, and those two congressmen are Republican Thomas Massey of Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California, a Democrat. And they say that Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, is withholding crucial Epstein-related documents that haven't been released as part of that tranche that came out on Friday. Now they say that Bondi failed to produce all of the files as required under their Epstein Files Transparency Act, and they claim that some of the redactions that were made are unlawful. Holding Bondi in inherent contempt would allow Congress to force compliance with fines or detention without relying on courts or the executive branch, and here's Khanna on CBS. We only need the House for inherent contempt, and we're building a bipartisan coalition, and it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she's not releasing these documents. A handful of photos released Friday feature former President Bill Clinton, one in a dimly lit hot tub with his arms behind his head, with a photo of a woman whose face was redacted by authorities. The other shows him in a pool next to Ghislaine Maxwell, and another redacted image of a woman. A spokeswoman for Bill Clinton says, quote, the White House hasn't been hiding these files for months, only to dump them late on Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever so they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want. But this isn't about Bill Clinton, never has, never will be. And after pulling a photo of President Trump posing with four models, the Justice Department has restored it online. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the DOJ is not hiding other photos and documents, rather vetting them. We're going through a very methodical process with hundreds of lawyers looking at every single document and making sure that the victim's names and any of the information from victims is protected and redacted, which is exactly what the Transparency Act expects. Now the House is out of session until early January, but at that time, Massey and Khanna are expected to force a vote on inherent contempt of Congress by Attorney General Bondi. And that floor vote, they say, has enough bipartisan support. It's a very narrow majority, obviously, Kelly in Congress for the GOP, but it's still unclear if they would have enough votes to hold her in contempt, but they wouldn't have to go through the Senate. It would only be in the House. So we'll be keeping an eye on that in the coming weeks. Back to you. Logan Raddick, thank you so much. Joining me now to discuss is White House and Washington reporter for Politico, Daniel Lippman. Daniel, how do we know how many documents there are, what has or has not been released? How does Congress, how does Massey and Ro Khanna know that all the files weren't released? Well, Blanche and the Department of Justice have said that there are, over the next few weeks, going to be lots more documents that are going to be produced. And so a lot of those, those hundreds of lawyers, they're probably not going to get much of a Christmas vacation this year because they want to try to abide by the congressional law, which President Trump signed, that these files get out there. We haven't seen any smoking guns, and it's unclear if there's going to be any people who are charged because of these types of crimes. But the Department of Justice is trying to comply. It's just that there is, you know, they don't want to leak out information on victims if they haven't said, oh, I'm OK to be mentioned in these files. They're basically doing all victims are redacted, even if you're a victim that is now an Epstein survivor and is, you know, arguing for transparency. Has there been any bombshells of what has been released so far? I mean, we saw Bill Clinton there in the hot tub. Anything else? Well, there was the former Prince Andrew, you know, laying with a lot of women at this formal party, you know, kind of laying flat. We haven't seen, you know, there's been, there hasn't really been anything new about Trump. A lot of those photos had been released. And so, you know, Trump was a longtime friend of Epstein, but he told, he's told reporters on numerous occasions that he felt at the end that he was a creep, and so he kicked him out of the Mar-a-Lago club. But we're really waiting to see in terms of why the Department of Justice did not pursue more serious charges and imprisonment for Epstein the first time. And we haven't gotten a lot of details on that in terms of the prosecution memos. But back then, victims were almost victim-shamed, where now women are believed much more in these types of situations. But before, you know, a couple decades ago, it was a much tougher environment in the culture for that. Do you think that Pam Bondi will be held in contempt of Congress? Thomas Massey seemed pretty serious with bringing this to the floor for a vote. I don't think that she will likely be held in contempt, because there will come a time, and I think Blanche has said in the next two weeks, all of these files are going to be out there. There's a question of redactions. But these redactions are being made by career DOJ attorneys. This is not political appointees reviewing this stuff. And Blanche is not saying, oh, I'm going to, you know, hide Trump here. And so if that ever came about, those people would be leaking that to the press. And so I think that Blanche and Bondi are helped by the fact that Congress is out of session and that by the time Congress would ever even vote on something like this, then they may have released all these documents. It's one thing that they may say, oh, they've done too many redactions. But I think that a fair—the American public don't want victims to be re-victimized if you don't want your information out there. And so they would have—there would be a very laborious process if you say, oh, there's two categories of Epstein victims, the ones who were—you know, they're fine with their names out there and information about them. And have already come forward. Yeah. And then there's a bucket of victims where they still want to be protected. And so that would cause a lot more man hours. We have to sift through everything, and it's not—you know, I totally understand the transparency, but the reason that people wanted these files out there is, A, to know these crimes, but also, who else should be charged? And the DOJ is still looking at that, and it seems unlikely that there's going to be more people charged. So the White House clearly views this story as a distraction, taking away from the president's accomplishments at the year-end. Now that these files are released, and they're going to be released, and the president signed this, is this something moving into 2026 that the president can put in the rear-view mirror? I think he can start to do that. And Democrats also want to put this in the rear-view mirror, because they want to fight the election based on issues that will appeal to a broad swath of Americans, primarily the economy, Trump's record in Washington during this term, not based on something that is more kind of the focus of online people. And so the average American is much more affected by how Trump has handled the economy and tariffs than these Epstein files. All right. Daniel Lipman, stick around. Thank you so much. You got it. A veteran school bus driver displaying a No Spanish sign on her bus, why she says it was necessary to protect her students. That's next on National Desk.

China's foreign ministry on Monday (December 22) said the United States' seizure of another country's ships was a serious violation of international law, after the U.S. intercepted a China-bound oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.

Beijing

China says U.S. ship seizures ‘serious violation' of international law

U.S. President Donald Trump named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry on Sunday as his special envoy to Greenland, drawing renewed criticism from Denmark and Greenland over Washington's interest in the mineral-rich Arctic island.

Nuuk

Trump appoints special envoy to Greenland, stirs backlash

A Russian general was killed by an explosive device underneath his car in Moscow, according to Russian investigators, who say Ukraine's intelligence services may have orchestrated the attack. Ukraine has not commented.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russian general killed in car explosion

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday (December 21), in what would be the third operation in less than two weeks if successful.

Caracas

U.S. pursuing third oil tanker near Venezuela, officials say

At least 15 documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were initially made public have been pulled from the Justice Department website. The agency says it will keep reviewing and redacting materials to "protect victims."

Epstein files pulled down to 'protect victims'

Nine people have died and at least ten others were wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday, authorities said.

Bekkersdal

At least nine people killed in South Africa pub shooting

U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with U.S. intelligence said.

As peace talks go on, U.S. intel says Putin's war goals unchanged

A court in Pakistan has convicted and sentenced the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of retaining and selling state gifts, including jewelry given by Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Islamabad

Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan convicted to 17 years in prison

The U.S. seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast on Saturday. It's the second time in two weeks that U.S. forces have carried out such an action. This comes after President Donald Trump announced a block of "sanctioned oil vessels" entering and exiting Venezuela.

Oil tanker seized off Venezuela, second in two weeks

The Justice Department released more documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday after failing to meet Friday's deadline to release all the documents, as required by the law signed by President Trump last month. The Justice Department said the delay was, in part, to ensure that victims' information was protected.

Justice Department releases more Epstein documents Saturday

The U.S. Department of Justice released thousands of documents, photos and files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. But some Democrats are criticizing the partial release because the department had a deadline to release all of the files by end of Friday.

'Partial' release of Epstein files faces criticism

The United States military “hit the ISIS [ISIL] thugs in Syria”, President Donald Trump has said, a week after two US soldiers and an interpreter were killed in Syria’s Palmyra city. Trump said he “ordered a massive strike on the terrorists that killed our three great patriots last week”.

Damascus

Trump says U.S has launched large-scale attacks on ISIL in Syria

Ukraine said its drones hit a vessel from Russia's shadow fleet – the first such strike in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Russia's shadow fleet transports sanctioned Russia oil by frequently changing flags and concealing ownership.

Ukraine strikes Russian shadow fleet tanker in Mediterranean sea

The U.S. Justice Department has released thousands of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, including photos featuring people like former President Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger. However, survivors are concerned with how much information was redacted from the files.

Thousands of new Epstein files, photos released

The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday (December 19) in retaliation for an attack on American personnel, U.S. officials said.

U.S. hits ISIS in Syria with large retaliatory strikes

The man suspected of carrying out an attack in Taiwan with a smoke grenade and knife acted alone, police said on Saturday of the incident that killed at least four, including the attacker. This edit contains graphic images.

Taipei City

Taipei attacker acted alone, police say after three killed

The suspect in the Dec. 13 mass shooting on the campus of Brown University was found dead by suicide in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, authorities said. He has been identified as 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a former Brown grad student.

Providence

How a Reddit post led police to the suspected university shooter

Seven people were killed, including former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his wife and children, in a plane crash in North Carolina. Investigators hope to find clues about why it happened on the cockpit voice recorder. Cristian Benavides has the latest.

Plane crash kills NASCAR driver, family

President Trump announced new agreements on Friday with nine pharmaceutical companies aimed at making certain prescription drugs cheaper. CBS News reporter Karen Hua has the details.

Trump announces agreements with major drugmakers to lower prices

The U.S. Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, bowing to pressure from lawmakers who forced their disclosure with a new law.

Washington County

Justice Department releases new tranche of Epstein files

The Justice Department has released a new batch of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News legal reporter Katrina Kaufman has more.

Combing through newly released Epstein files

TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. operations to a group of investors in America, a source familiar with the deal tells CBS News.

TikTok nears deal to avoid ban in the U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted to the European Union's massive $108 billion loan to fund Ukraine's war against Russia.

Kyiv

European Union loans Ukraine billions as Putin boasts about war

The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, continues to take a heavy toll on civilians, particularly in frontline areas such as Zaporizhzhia, where fighting and shelling persist.

Putin accuses Kyiv of rejecting peaceful settlement

The man believed to be responsible for carrying out the Brown University shooting and killing an MIT professor was found dead in a storage unit in New Hampshire on Thursday, officials said.

Salem

Suspect in Brown and MIT shootings found dead

Australia will launch a national gun buyback program in the aftermath of a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia announces gun buyback program after Bondi Beach shooting

TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, signed binding agreements with American investors to allow the U.S. arm of the business to continue operating.

TikTok signs deal to allow app to continue operating in the U.S.

Under a law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, the Justice Department has until Friday to release its files on the Jeffrey Epstein case. House Democrats released more photos from the estate of the convicted sex offender. Scott MacFarlane reports.

House Democrats release more Epstein photos ahead of DOJ deadline

The European Commission announced it will delay the signing of the Mercosur trade agreement until the new year after Meloni asked for more time. No date has been set. Backers hope deal won't be further derailed.

Brussels

Mercosur signature delayed to January after Meloni asked for more time

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug. CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro has more on that and the president's year-end address from Wednesday night.

Breakdown