Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said during multiple TV appearances Friday that he and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are pondering impeachment charges against Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing the newly released but heavily redacted Justice Department files on the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“Thomas Massie and I talked about it,” Khanna told “The Source” host Kaitlan Collins. “He’s working, as am I, on drafting articles of impeachment and inherent contempt. We haven’t decided whether to move it forward yet, but we’re in the process of doing it.”
“The problem that the attorney general has, if you just look at the comments to our social media feed, is the amount of MAGA influencers who are upset with her,” he continued. “The issue for her is not, ‘Are there gonna be 212 Democrats who would support it?’”
Khanna and Massie, who both serve on the House Oversight Committee, co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act and garnered enough bipartisan support to compel the Justice Department to release any remaining files within 30 days. The DOJ appeared to meet the Dec. 19 deadline, only to release a fraction of the documents — many heavily redacted.
The file release was also overseen by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who could face future charges, Khanna noted during an appearance on “Anderson Cooper 360” on Friday.
“Just release the files, get it over with,” he said. “The president can talk about affordability and the economy. They’re the ones who continue to play these games that make this a bigger and bigger issue. And Congress is talking about possible impeachment.”
Khanna continued, “They’re talking about inherent contempt for the attorney general or deputy attorney general. Any Justice Department official who has obstructed justice could face prosecution in this administration or a future administration.” Inherent contempt is the rarely invoked power of Congress to arrest or imprison individuals for defying legal demands.
“So today is the 30 days,” said Blanche, appearing on Fox News on Friday. “I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”
The Epstein files have been a signature issue for the DOJ and the attorney general’s office in particular. Bondi famously vowed in February to release the files, then reportedly informed President Donald Trump in July that his name was prominently featured in them. Trump went on to decry the case as a “hoax” propped up by Democrats, only for the transparency act to pass.
Blanche held several prison interviews in July with sex offender and former Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who claimed she never saw Trump do anything illegal. She was then moved to a minimum-security facility.
Khanna told Collins that his goal has never been to bring about charges or impeachments, but to bring the full facts to light in honor of the victims. He further noted he’ll be satisfied “as long as they comply with the spirit of the law.”
“But this was in no way complying with the spirit of the law,” said Khanna of Friday’s redaction-filled and somewhat clumsy file release.
He also warned during his “Anderson Cooper 360” appearance, “The last word, like I said, is going to be the survivors. Americans don’t trust politicians that much. They trust those women, and they are going to be back on the hill. And the country will hear from them.”
