Already in violation of a statutory deadline and accused of engaging in rampant, unlawful redactions, it's been revealed that the US Department of Justice has about 5.2 million pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that still need to be reviewed, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and inside sources cited by the New York Times. 

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was enacted in November, gave the DOJ a Dec. 19 deadline for releasing "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" relating to Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. It released some 100,000 pages on the due date, but now we learn that first batch represented a tiny 1.9% of the total inventory -- before accounting for duplicates. 

With Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna in discussions with other members of Congress about potentially holding Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt, the DOJ is scrambling to amass a legion of 400 lawyers to work on the enormous task. Those lawyers will come from the DOJ's Criminal Division, the National Security Division, the FBI and the US Attorney's office in Manhattan, according to Reuters, with a goal of hammering out the mass-review between January 5 and 23. Until now, the DOJ has had almost 200 lawyers from the National Security Division reviewing the files. 

Of course, these extra lawyers being recruited into the project have other responsibilities, so the expectation is that they'll allocate three to five hours a day to the Epstein files. Volunteers will be enticed with time-off awards along with the option to work the Epstein project remotely. 

Last week, DOJ said it had discovered more than a million more documents with potential links to the Epstein cases. Seeking to fend off criticism, the DOJ said:   

“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible. Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks."  

The threat of contempt isn't the only form of heat Bondi and the Trump administration are facing. On Christmas Eve, a group of 12 senators sent a letter to DOJ Acting Inspector General Don Berthiaume demanding an audit of the DOJ's handling of the Epstein files.

Beyond pointing to the failure to meet the Dec. 19 deadline, the senators said the huge number of redactions in the released documents have raised "serious questions as to whether the Department is properly applying the limited exceptions for redaction that are permitted under the Act. Any withholding or redaction beyond those specified circumstances is against the law."

Does anyone really believe that Epstein and Maxwell were the only wrongdoers in this vast, sordid saga?