WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is seeking Christmas-week volunteers to help expedite the release of files on late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“I am aware that the timing could not be worse,” a supervising prosecutor wrote Tuesday to staff of the Miami US Attorney’s Office, requesting help during the “next several days.”
“For some the holidays are about to begin, but I know that for others the holidays are coming to an end,” the email stated, referring to the fact that Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish celebration, ended Monday.
President Trump has authorized Christmas Eve, Christmas and Dec. 26 to count as federal holidays — entitling most feds to paid time off to spend with their families.
That designation means that working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday could entitle some officials to double pay.
The solicitation for volunteers, first reported by CNN and confirmed to The Post by a Justice Department source, comes as critics of the department threaten a House resolution to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress following a deadline last Friday to release files.
The main Justice Department headquarters in Washington has been taking the lead in releasing files and requested the extra help from South Florida.
The Miami-based manager relayed to staff an “emergency request from the [Deputy Attorney General’s] office the SDFL must assist with … We need [assistant US attorneys] to do remote document review and redactions related to the Epstein files.”
“We have an obligation to the public to release these documents and before we can do so, certain redactions must be made to protect the identity of the victims, among other things,” the plea stated.
Here’s the latest on the release of the Epstein files
- Tech-savvy users discover a way around redacted parts of Jeffrey Epstein files
- Epstein email shows feds tried to contact 10 ‘co-conspirators’ — including billionaire retail magnate behind Victoria’s Secret
- Purported Epstein letter that referenced President Trump is fake, DOJ says
- Latest Epstein files release includes post-suicide attempt report, grim photos 3 weeks before his death
- DOJ preemptively defends Trump as latest batch of Epstein files released: ‘Unfounded and false’
A Justice Department official told The Post that “we are wholeheartedly committed to releasing everything to the public as quickly as possible.”
The authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), told The Post on Monday that they are considering legislation that would fine Bondi $5,000 per day in protest of withheld documents, including heavy redactions to already released files.
