Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche exits a meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
The Justice Department is currently trying to save acting Attorney General Todd Blanche from a lawsuit filed by the government watchdog group American Oversight over the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In June, the group filed suit with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request involving “all email communications sent or received by Todd Blanche and containing both a key term from Column A and a key term from Column B,” and “all text messages and messages on messaging platforms ... sent or received by Todd Blanche and containing the term ‘Epstein.’”
According to The New Republic, those columns include words like “Epstein," “Maxwell,” “Trump,” “DJT,” “POTUS,” “DOE174,” “Tallahassee” and a slew of other terms.
American Oversight submitted an additional filing requesting that it be rushed, given Blanche's upcoming Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general.
The Justice Department submitted a 38-page filing saying that the FOIA request would disrupt “the processing of other requests awaiting agency attention” and that granting this one would “wreak havoc on agencies and the court.”
It goes on to claim that turning over the documents would "harm the public 'interest in ensuring that agencies have sufficient time to review materials for responsiveness and exemptions, and the interest of other third-parties in not having their FOIA requests bumped down in the queue and consequently delayed,'" which is the requirement by the law.
Trump's administration has been able to drag out FOIA requests for the past year by claiming there's an overwhelming backlog and staffing reductions from the massive personnel cuts from DOGE.
The DOJ filing continues saying, "More specifically, the public interest requires that expedited processing remain available for genuine emergencies."
“Granting relief would create perverse incentives and send the message that requesters whose preferred deadlines align with high-profile governmental proceedings can circumvent statutory procedures to leapfrog other requesters," the filing continued.
It goes on to make the hyperbolic statement, "If countenanced, AO’s strategy would also wreak havoc on agencies and the courts."
TNR described it as a "flimsy" argument.
On Tuesday, a group of 1,200 former Justice Department lawyers signed a letter to the Senate asking it not to confirm Blanche.
