Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna told CBS’s “Face The Nation” that the DOJ is not fully complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which gave them 30 days to publish every remaining document the government has regarding Jeffrey Epstein. “Todd Blanche is the face of this, but it’s really the attorney general’s office, Pam Bondi, who is responsible,” Massie said. “There are several ways to get at this. Some take longer, some shorter.” “The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way to get justice for these victims, is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn’t require going through the courts. And basically Ro Khanna and I are talking about and drafting that right now,” Massie said. “We only need the House for inherent contempt, and we are building a bipartisan coalition. And it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she is not releasing these documents,” Khanna added. The House or Senate can vote to hold someone in inherent contempt, which gives them the ability to impose fines or have the Sergeant-at-Arms detain the person. Congress hasn’t detained anyone this way in nearly a century. It differs from “contempt of Congress,” which refers the case to the DOJ for prosecution in federal court.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: In terms of the gentleman there you referenced as accused, I mean, being in the document doesn’t necessarily prove criminal behavior, right? And in terms of the redactions, what the deputy attorney general said is that they were abiding by your law, and also a judge in New York ordered them to listen to victims. So they are claiming that information that they had initially even published Friday, they had to pull down because they were trying to protect victims. You don’t sound convinced that they are abiding by, you know, this intent. REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): No. They are not abiding. And all three judges who released the grand jury materials said that our law trumps the prior law. That’s just common sense – law school 101. Yet Todd Blanche is using a different theory that wouldn’t survive first contact with any court, trying to say that prior laws override – that’s not the way this works. MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: Okay. What are you going to do about it to force them to comply? Can you do anything? REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Absolutely. Look, people have talked about – by the way, Todd Blanche is the face of this, but it’s really the attorney general’s office, Pam Bondi, who is responsible. And there are several ways to get at this. Some take longer, some shorter. The quickest way, and I think most expeditious way to get justice for these victims, is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi. That doesn’t require going through the courts. And basically Ro Khanna and I are talking about and drafting that right now. MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: Okay. Well, I mean, on another network this morning, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said impeachment or contempt, it is premature, Congressman Khanna. And the deputy attorney general said, Bring it on. They don’t seem to be taking it very seriously. If you don’t have the math in the Senate, including now this Democratic senator not convinced, doesn’t that show you are at the limit of pressure? REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): No. We only need the House for inherent contempt, and we are building a bipartisan coalition. And it would fine Pam Bondi for every day that she is not releasing these documents. I’ll tell you why I talked to the survivors, why this is such a slap in the face. One of the survivors said they released her name accidentally, but they still have not released the FBI file about the people who abused her, at her request. The problem here is that there are rich and powerful people – we know this. There are 1,200 people, rich and powerful people, who engaged in abuse, covered it up, or were on this island. What the American people want to know – This is the corrupt system, the Epstein-class people are sick of. I believe we will get bipartisan support in holding her accountable. And a committee of Congress should determine whether these redactions are justified or not. MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: Sometime in January when you come back, I assume, that will happen.

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