Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday she wants the judge overseeing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files to be impeached.
Luna told “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” that Paul Engelmayer, an Obama-appointed judge in the Southern District of New York, is the one slow-walking the release of the files pertaining to convicted sex offender Epstein, not the Trump administration.
“It is literally this activist judge, an Obama-era appointed judge who’s a Democrat that authorized or that made the order to actually do a second scan of the documents,” Luna said. “You already have over 500 attorneys working at the DOJ to ensure that the adequate redactions were placed on these documents to protect victim information.”
“But when you have someone that’s potentially stonewalling this intentionally to try to make it look like there’s an issue with the delay in the release of the files, this is obstruction of an investigation,” Luna added.
Luna said Engelmayer needs to be held accountable and she plans to introduce a resolution to impeach him.
“I don’t think that he should be in office,” Luna said. “I definitely don’t think that this is about the victims.”
On Wednesday, Engelmayer blocked Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., from intervening in the sex trafficking case of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidant.
The lawmakers, whose Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in November, petitioned the judge last week in a bid to speed the public disclosure of files related to investigations into the late financier and Maxwell.
Engelmayer largely agreed with the Justice Department’s insistence that he, as the judge overseeing Maxwell’s case, had no authority to grant Khanna and Massie’s request for an independent monitor to ensure the immediate release of more than 2 million documents that the government has identified as investigative materials.
“The guy doesn’t have the invested interest in getting down to the root of this issue,” Luna charged. “If people want the files, then let’s talk about why there’s been a delay. It hasn’t been on behalf of Attorney General [Pam] Bondi, but specifically this judge.”
Luna said Democrats blasting the Trump administration for releasing the files are being intellectually dishonest.
“This judge is literally blocking it,” Luna said. “I saw an email to prove it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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