Late financier Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this image from the U.S. Justice Department’s file of Epstein, released by the House Oversight Committee Democrats Washington, D.C., U.S., on December 18, 2025. House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via REUTERS
A federal judge is now at work to uncover whether the Justice Department botched the release of the files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation out of incompetence or if it was something more sinister.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, The Atlantic's Sarah Fitzpatrick shared her own suspicions about the role of the Justice Department over the decade and its approach to releasing the Epstein files.
She responded to an interview Fox News' Laura Ingraham conducted with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said that if there were people who could be prosecuted, the DOJ would do it. However, Blanche asserted that Americans must realize is that it isn't illegal "to party with Epstein."
That doesn't exactly square with the behavior of the Justice Department, however, Fitzpatrick said.
Blanche has "spent money on — for the Justice Department — taking hundreds and hundreds of attorneys to review these documents, to work overtime. Like — if there's no — likely to be no charges, why was there such a huge commitment of resources, that have been pulled away from other violent crimes and other things that are in desperate need of law enforcement attention?" Fitzpatrick questioned.
Host Brianna Keilar noted of Blanche's comments that after his short time in prison, Epstein was a convicted sex offender, and it raises a lot of questions about those who wanted to visit his island or who were messaging him.
"And the DOJ shouldbe more interested ininvestigating that. So, wheredoes that leave things, and why aren't they?" Keilar asked.
Fitzpatrick called it a "curious question" and one that the DOJ has refused to answer across multiple administrations.
"And, so, what I think it reflectsis a, you know, the Trump DOJkind of came in that we're goingto release these files. We'regoing to get to the bottom ofthis. And now we're — as far as we can tell — no law enforcement steps have been taken," she said.
She said that she spoke to a source who said that neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has ever been questioned by law enforcement.
"It suggests akind of lack of interest and alack of following all of thoseleads," said Fitzpatrick. "Anyone who — especiallybecause Epstein was charged — and [Ghislaine] Maxwell was charged withtrafficking — which means themoving of people for the purpose of sex. Anyone who was at these parties, who had knowledge of their whereabouts, how communications were done, how the planning was."
She said that even small details could provide important information to investigators that could help connect the dots for other witnesses.
"So, it just suggests that they didn't — this was never really about getting answers, and especially answers that might not reflect well on the Justice Department," Fitzpatrick said.
They went on to complain about the specific release of more than 3 million files last week.
"There were so many months, there was so much time. There were so many people who were involved in preparing for this release. And the fact that it is done so haphazardly indicates either a lack of attention or a, kind of, perhaps, other motive. And I think that's what a hearing a judge will have to evaluate," she said.