WASHINGTON — A federal judge overseeing a case focused on the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files pressed government attorneys Thursday about their compliance with his court orders and warned that he has held lawyers in contempt before.U.S.District Judge Emmet Sullivan, a 41-year veteran of the bench, convened the hearing seeking answers about whether the Trump administration had complied with his previous orders in the case, including one about the need for the Justice Department to publish justifications for the numerous redactions in the released Epstein files.Justice Department official Andrew Block told Sullivan he was not in a position to commit to a time frame, saying that it was out of his control and that information would be “forthcoming.”“Christmas is forthcoming,” Sullivan quipped.Sullivan called his orders “straightforward” and said he was willing to work with the government to obtain compliance.“You want me to issue another order and say, ‘I really mean it this time’?” Sullivan said at one point.The case stems from a lawsuit journalist Katie Phang filed against Attorney General Todd Blanche in April, arguing that the Justice Department had failed to comply in full with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law last year.
The suit alleges the government failed to make some key redactions, inappropriately redacted other information and improperly withheld documents that referred to President Donald Trump.The Justice Department had argued that Phang lacked standing to bring the case, and it has said it is “absurd” to claim the Justice Department violated Sullivan’s order in June requiring more information surrounding specific redacted files.Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who led the Justice Department when millions of Epstein files were made public, told lawmakers after Trump fired her that “redaction errors” occurred during the records’ release.Add ...