Todd Blanche And The Motion To Postpone The Deadline In The Katie Phang Lawsuit (Part 1) (10/19/26)

The Justice Department’s October 13 filing in Phang v. Blanche was a reply defending its request to postpone the deadline for producing the administrative record in Katie Phang’s lawsuit over the Epstein files. DOJ argued that there was no procedural violation in asking for the delay because it had simultaneously filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings that, if successful, could resolve the case without an administrative record at all. According to the department, virtually everything that could conceivably make up that record had already been released through the DOJ Epstein Library, FOIA productions, processing guidelines, correspondence and other public filings. DOJ accused Phang of demanding an administrative record without identifying what additional documents she believed it would contain, and argued that forcing the government to compile already-public material would amount to an unnecessary exercise while the court considered whether the case could be disposed of on legal grounds alone.

The filing also directly pushed back on Phang’s argument that the administrative record was necessary to determine whether DOJ had improperly withheld or redacted Epstein-related material, including records referring to President Trump. DOJ maintained that questions about redactions were legal issues, not factual disputes requiring an administrative record, and said that any challenge to individual redactions belonged in a FOIA case through a Vaughn index rather than through the Administrative Procedure Act. The department pointed to the attorney general’s certification that no redactions had been made to avoid political embarrassment and noted that Trump was included among the “politically exposed persons” reviewed during the process. DOJ further argued that Phang had no right to inspect unredacted victim information for herself and emphasized that Judge Emmet Sullivan had already reviewed sensitive records privately. The department therefore asked Sullivan to postpone the administrative-record deadline until he ruled on DOJ’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, effectively arguing that Phang’s effort to obtain a fuller record was both procedurally unnecessary and legally misplaced.

to contact me:

bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

source:

gov.uscourts.dcd.291779.58.0.pdf