Todd Blanche in jeopardy of $1,000-a-day fine for violating Epstein files ruling
Source: Raw Story
July 13, 2026 6:47PM ET
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faces a proposed $1,000-a-day fine for refusing to comply with a federal judge's order to release more Epstein files. The motion, filed Monday by independent journalist Katie Phang's legal team in Washington, asks U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to hold Blanche in contempt — meaning the court would punish him for defying its order.
The filing lands two days before Blanche is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing as attorney general.
Sullivan ruled in June, as Politico reported, that Blanche had "conceded" he was violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a 2025 law Trump signed requiring the full public release of Justice Department files on convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Sullivan had ordered Blanche to unredact emails, release FBI interview notes, and publish a log explaining every redaction — and Blanche refused.
"The Attorney General refuses to review foreign-language documents," the filing states. "He refuses to produce an explanation for his redactions. And he refuses to produce documents he concedes contain no victim information."
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/todd-blanche-epstein-fine/
Links to FILINGS (PDFs)
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779.20.0.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779/gov.uscourts.dcd.291779.20.1.pdf
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