少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周一提出了一项法案，该法案将指导参议院采取法律行动，追究司法部的责任未能发布完整的文件根据爱泼斯坦档案透明法案的规定，在周五的最后期限之前，与被定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦有关。
舒默是在民主党众议员罗·卡纳和共和党众议员托马斯·马西之后宣布这一消息的宣布的他们正在追寻的周日“天生的轻蔑”对司法部长帕姆·邦迪的指控是因为他没有遵守法律公开完整的爱泼斯坦档案。
如果努力通过，这可能导致邦迪的逮捕-尽管两人预计将介绍一旦众议院在1月份返回，该决议将被视为“特权”，这将迫使众议院在两个立法日内进行投票，目前尚不清楚这一努力在投票时是否会成功。
“国会通过的法律非常明确:全面公布爱泼斯坦的文件，让美国人看到真相，”舒默在一份声明中说。“相反，特朗普司法部(Trump Department of Justice)抛弃了编辑内容并扣留了证据——这违反了法律。今天，我将提出一项决议，迫使参议院采取法律行动，迫使本届政府遵守。"
DOJ面临着由国会强制规定并由总统签署成为法律的周五最后期限发布政府调查性侵犯者期间收集的大量记录，性侵犯者于2019年死于监狱。
司法部发布了数千份文件-从调查文件到大陪审团证词，再到爱泼斯坦和他的朋友们拍摄的快照-但表示无法在截止日期前完全公布所有文件。该法律包含保护受害者和其他情况的例外条款，但批评人士称，DOJ没有遵循该法律的文字和精神。
舒默称DOJ周五的部分发布是“明目张胆的掩盖”
舒默说:“帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)和(副总检察长)托德·布兰奇(Todd Blanche)正在保护唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)免受问责，参议院有责任采取行动。”。
预计舒默将在明年1月参议院假期结束后，迫使参议院审议该法案。该法案可能需要一致同意才能通过。
尚不清楚它是否会得到支持，但参议院一致通过了爱泼斯坦透明法案，该法案迫使爱泼斯坦文件公开。
周日，爱泼斯坦文件透明法案的合著者卡纳和马西，宣布他们打算继续固有的蔑视诉讼程序。
这固有的轻蔑权力允许国会依靠自己的宪法权力来拘留和监禁“藐视者”——被关押在监狱里的人轻蔑-根据国会研究服务机构的说法，直到个人遵守国会的要求，如传票或罚款。
这项权力指示武装警官逮捕拒绝服从传票或罚款的人，但是，一旦证人服从传票，他们就会被释放。
值得注意的是，该决议不需要在参议院获得通过就可以强制执行。
“为这些受害者伸张正义的最快方式，我认为也是最快捷的方式，就是对帕姆·邦迪提出固有的蔑视，”马西周日在“哥伦比亚广播公司新闻‘面对全国’”节目中说。
卡纳周日也出现在同一节目中，他重申，在这一点上，固有的蔑视是正确的道路。
“我们只需要众议院固有的蔑视，我们正在建立一个两党联盟，它会罚款帕姆邦迪每一天，她不公布这些文件。我会告诉你为什么，我已经和幸存者谈过了，为什么这是一记耳光，”卡纳说。
在周日NBC新闻的“会见媒体”节目中，布兰奇说他没有认真对待马西和卡纳的威胁，因为他说他认为他们符合法律。特别是关于对司法部采取法律行动的威胁，布兰奇说，“放马过来吧。”
A周一早上发布的声明代表一群爱泼斯坦幸存者的律师说，文件中的删节或未发布的页面相当于失败。
声明称，“我们被告知，仍有数十万页文件未被公布。”
Lawmakers threaten legal action against Bondi, DOJ over partial release of Epstein files
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation on Monday that would direct the Senate to initiate legal action to hold the Justice Department accountable forfailing to release the complete filesrelated to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by Friday's deadline, which was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Schumer's announcement came after Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massieannouncedon Sunday that they are pursuing"inherent contempt"charges against Attorney General Pam Bondi for not complying with the law to release the complete Epstein files.
If the effort passes, it could lead to Bondi's arrest -- though the pair is expected to introduce theresolution as "privileged" once the House returns in January, which would force a vote within two legislative days on the House floor, and it's unclear if this effort would even be successful when it comes up for a vote.
"The law Congress passed is crystal clear: release the Epstein files in full so Americans can see the truth,"Schumer said in a statement."Instead, the Trump Department of Justice dumped redactions and withheld the evidence -- that breaks the law.Today, I am introducing a resolution to force the Senate to take legal action and compel this administration to comply."
The DOJ faced a Friday deadline imposed by Congress and signed into law by the presidentto release a massive cache of records gathered during government investigations into the sex offender, who died in jail in 2019.
The Justice Departmentreleased thousands of files-- ranging from investigative documents to grand jury testimony to snapshots taken by Epstein and his friends -- but said it would fail to fully release all the files by the deadline. The law contains exceptions to protect victims and other circumstances, but critics say the DOJ is not following the letter and spirit of the law.
Schumer called the DOJ's partial release on Friday a "blatant cover-up."
"Pam Bondi and [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche are shielding Donald Trump from accountability, and the Senate has a duty to act," Schumer said.
Schumer is expected to force consideration of this bill on the Senate floor in January when the Senate returns from its holiday break. The bill would likely require unanimous consent to pass.
It is unclear if it would have that support, but the Senate unanimously passed the Epstein Transparency Act, which compelled the release of the Epstein documents.
On Sunday, Khanna and Massie, the co-authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,announced their intent to pursueinherent contemptproceedings.
Theinherentcontemptpower permits Congress to rely on its own constitutional authority to detain and imprison a "contemnor" -- someone held incontempt-- until the individual complies with congressional demands like a subpoena or a monetary fine, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The power directs the Sergeant at Arms to arrest the individual who refuses to comply with a subpoena or fine, however, once the witness complies with the subpoena, they are released.
Notably, the resolution would not require passage in the Senate to be enforced.
"The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way, to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi," Massie said on "CBS News' Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Khanna, who also appeared on the same program on Sunday, reiterated that inherent contempt is the right path at this point.
"We only need 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. I'll tell you why, I've talked to the survivors, why this is such a slap in the face," Khanna said.
On NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Blanche said he wasn't taking Massie and Khanna's threats seriously because he said he believes they are in compliance with the law. Specifically regarding threats of legal action against the department, Blanche said, "Bring it on."
Astatement released Monday morningby attorneys representing a group of Epstein survivors said omissions in the files by either redactions or unreleased pages amounted to a failure.
"We are told that there are hundreds of thousands of pages of documents still unreleased," the statement said.
