A federal judge dealt Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche a new blow Monday, rejecting his bid to close a lawsuit over the Epstein files.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan reviewed Blanche’s response to an earlier court order and kept the case alive.
Journalist Katie Phang, who sued Blanche for burying documents the law requires him to release, must file her reply by July 13. Blanche then has until July 20 to respond.
Sullivan had already ruled last month that Blanche violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
President Donald Trump signed the law in November 2025. It required the Justice Department to release its files on the late sex trafficker.
The judge ordered Blanche to unredact a series of emails in which senders’ and recipients’ names were blacked out. The emails included one in which a sender told Jeffrey Epstein, “Thank you for a fun night… Your littlest girl was a little naughty,” and another in which Epstein wrote that he “loved the torture video.”
Blanche’s team pushed back, arguing the redactions were legal.
“Many communications written by victims, without context, can appear disturbing on their face,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote in a court filing.