Katie Phang Goes Scorched Earth On Todd Blanche

Attorney Katie Phang accused Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department of making another last-minute attempt to delay her lawsuit seeking fuller disclosure of Jeffrey Epstein records. The dispute centered on an October 1 deadline imposed by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan requiring Blanche to file a certified list identifying the contents of the government’s administrative record, with the full record due to Phang by October 15. Instead of meeting that deadline, the Justice Department sought additional time and simultaneously moved for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that compiling the administrative record would waste government resources because Phang’s case should be dismissed. Phang sharply rejected that position, accusing the government of mischaracterizing her lawsuit and contradicting its earlier arguments about the legal framework governing the case. She maintained that her claims were being pursued under the Administrative Procedure Act in connection with the Justice Department’s handling of its obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, rather than simply suing directly under the disclosure statute itself.

The latest confrontation continued a pattern of deadline fights that had already drawn criticism from Judge Sullivan. In September, Sullivan rejected Blanche’s earlier request for a 60-day stay, ordered him to answer Phang’s complaint by September 24 and specifically required the administrative-record list by October 1 after concluding that the government had failed to justify previous missed deadlines. Phang’s attorneys argued that the Justice Department could not now avoid producing that record merely by filing another dispositive motion, noting that the court’s own rules generally required the administrative record to accompany such a filing. The significance of the record was substantial because it could reveal how the Justice Department decided what Epstein material to release, redact or withhold, potentially allowing Phang to challenge those decisions against the government’s own internal documentation. The October filing therefore represented another attempt by Blanche to stop or delay the case before that decision-making record was turned over, while Phang continued pressing Sullivan to enforce the deadlines he had already imposed.



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‘Todd, which one is it?’ Attorney confronts Todd Blanche for latest Epstein delay ruse - Raw Story