FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Wednesday that he is barred by recent court orders from releasing thousands of documents connected to disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“I’m not going to break the law to satisfy your curiosity,” Patel said during the second day of Congressional oversight hearings after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) challenged him on why he hasn’t released more of the files.

But Patel appears to be mischaracterizing those recent court orders, which came amid a hurried effort by the Trump administration to ask federal judges for permission to release grand jury materials stemming from the case of Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

Judges considering the ask said it appeared to be an effort to confuse the public, noting that the materials consisted of only a few dozen pages of hearsay — much of which became public during court proceedings — and were dwarfed by the FBI’s massive trove of records.

In fact, one of the judges who ruled on the grand jury matter — and who presided over Epstein’s criminal case before he died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 — said the Trump administration had the power to release the records.

“The government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein files,” U.S. District Judge Richard Berman wrote last month, emphasizing that the materials in the FBI’s possession are not subject to typical secrecy of grand jury material.

Berman, a Clinton appointee, called the Trump administration’s effort to seek release of the limited grand jury material an apparent “diversion from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government’s possession.”

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) pressed Patel on this point, suggesting that the grand jury orders had no bearing on his ability to release more materials. Patel then cited other sealed orders and protective orders from Epstein and Maxwell’s criminal cases that he said barred the release of additional information.

“Why are you not going to a court, like you did for the grand jury testimony?” Goldman wondered. “You are hiding the Epstein files, Mr. Patel. You are part of the cover-up.”

A Texas Democrat is planning to file impeachment articles against President Donald Trump’s top law enforcement officials as a partisan slap flight plays out on the House floor this week.

Dueling censure resolutions are currently awaiting floor votes that could come as soon as Wednesday afternoon after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) took aim at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for comments made after the killing last week of activist Charlie Kirk. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) immediately countered with a measure targeting Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) who is subject to an ethics investigation and a restraining-order proceeding.

In swept Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) on Wednesday, saying he is ready to take the retaliatory campaign against Mace up a notch.

“If [Mace] (soon to be a sucker and loser in her governors race) wants to strip [Omar] of her committees for words she never said, MANY people are saying we should impeach the incompetent Kash Patel and Pam Bondi for the lies they ACTUALLY TOLD!!” he wrote on X, referring to the FBI director and attorney general.

Veasey is drafting articles of impeachment for the two Trump officials, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss his intentions.

Mace, who is running for South Carolina governor, brought up her measure Tuesday under special expedited procedures that would force a House vote no later than Thursday. Casar did the same with his Mills measure.

A top Omar aide e-mailed all House chiefs of staff Tuesday with a rebuttal to the GOP effort, saying that “Mace is trying to censure Rep. Omar over comments she never said.”

Democrats could withdraw the measure targeting Mills if the Omar measure is withdrawn or fails on the floor. A similar measure targeting Mills was dropped earlier this month after a GOP-led effort to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) flopped on the House floor.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Democrats say they won’t accept the stopgap funding bill Republicans unveiled Tuesday, further increasing the chances of a government shutdown Oct. 1.

“The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement, pledging to propose their own continuing resolution, or CR, that ties in an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies.

But in order to keep their leverage to force Republicans back to the negotiating table, Democratic leaders need to minimize defections — and purple-district lawmakers could take political heat if they vote against a government funding patch.

Frontline Democrats are set to huddle Wednesday morning with Jeffries to discuss their options, according to two people granted anonymity to share details about a private meeting. Reps. Laura Gillen and Don Davis are expected to press Democratic leaders during the meeting to push for any CR to include funding for local law enforcement efforts, as outlined in a letter shared first with Inside Congress.

So far, many at-risk Democrats are noncommittal. “I don’t know how I’m voting on it right now,” Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), who holds a leadership position representing battleground lawmakers.

Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, the only House Democrat who voted for the GOP’s last CR in March, didn’t answer when asked if he would support Republicans’ latest plan.

Even if House Democrats stick together and vote in opposition, House Republicans can only lose two of their own members with full attendance — and GOP Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio) signaled his hesitance Tuesday. But Speaker Mike Johnson is working to lock in his rank-and-file before a vote as soon as Thursday, and many appear to be getting in line. One Freedom Caucus member granted anonymity to speak candidly, when asked about the CR prospects, made a remark to Blue Light News that would normally be surprising: “I think we’re all fine.”

Across the Capitol, everyone is watching the ten Senate Democrats who this spring defied their base’s demands to reject the GOP funding bill and instead helped Republicans overcome a procedural hurdle to avert a shutdown. Progressives are warning Democratic lawmakers even more loudly this time not to cave.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz — expected to be the No. 2 Senate Democrat in the next Congress — was one of the ten lawmakers to vote against a shutdown. But now he’s showing a change in tune.

“Trump said yesterday that he doesn’t need to work with Democrats. If that’s the case I wish him the best,” Schatz said in a post on X. “I’m a no.”

What else we’re watching:   

— Monarez takes the stand: Susan Monarez, the former CDC director who was fired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will testify Wednesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel after an invitation from Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.). She is expected to say she was shown the door for refusing to comply with the administration’s demands and pre-approve vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence.

— Patel is back: House Judiciary will hear testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel Wednesday morning. It comes after his testimony Tuesday in front of Senate Judiciary devolved into a shouting match at one point.

Nicholas Wu, Meredith Lee Hill and Sophie Gardner contributed to this report.