Sponsors (2)
The bill increases transparency and access to unredacted DOJ records for victims, state/local prosecutors, and Congress—improving accountability and case-building—but raises substantial risks to classified information, DOJ capacity, individual privacy, and taxpayer costs.
Victims and survivors can obtain full unredacted DOJ records about themselves (including FD-302s), giving them clearer evidence and information to pursue justice and understand harms.
State and local prosecutors and law enforcement can receive and use full unredacted records (including classified material under secure procedures) to support investigations and prosecutions.
Members of Congress gain expedited, time‑bounded (7‑day) access and a private right of action to challenge DOJ noncompliance, strengthening legislative oversight.
Providing full unredacted classified records to state and local actors risks mishandling of classified information, which could harm national security if secure controls fail.
New rapid disclosure deadlines, civil/criminal penalties, and limits on privilege could strain DOJ investigatory resources and force disclosures that slow or undermine other investigations.
Expanding mandatory disclosures and limiting privilege increases the chance sensitive information about third parties (victims, witnesses, others) will be exposed, risking privacy and safety harms.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates civil and criminal enforcement to force DOJ disclosure of covered records, gives victims, state prosecutors, and Members of Congress expedited access, and limits privilege and Touhy defenses.
Official title: Amend the Epstein Files Transparency Act with respect to enforcement by an attorney general of a State.
Introduced July 15, 2026 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress July 15, 2026
Creates a private right of action and enforcement regime to force the Department of Justice to produce, publish, and stop improperly redacting or withholding records related to covered criminal investigations and prosecutions. It lets state prosecutors, certain state officers, victims, and Members of Congress sue the Attorney General for failures to disclose and imposes expedited procedures, civil remedies, and criminal penalties for concealment or false statements. Requires DOJ to provide victims and authorized prosecutors full unredacted records (with narrowly tailored victim privacy protections), overrides certain common-law privileges and Touhy regulations for these records, gives Members of Congress seven-day access with a 30-day cure period for alleged violations, and creates penalties and damages for unlawful withholding, delay, removal, concealment, or falsification of covered records.