NEW YORK — In a recent development, Manhattan’s chief federal prosecutor declared that a judge does not possess the legal authority to assign a neutral expert to manage the public dissemination of documents linked to the high-profile sex trafficking investigation involving financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

This statement was delivered to Judge Paul A. Engelmayer through a letter authored by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. The letter urged the judge to dismiss a request made earlier in the week by the congressional cosponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, who sought the appointment of a neutral expert.

The request was initiated by U.S. Representatives Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. They expressed “urgent and grave concerns” about the sluggish release of a small fraction of the millions of documents related to the case, a process that began the previous month.

In their submission to the court, Khanna and Massie argued that they suspected “criminal violations” had occurred during the document release process.

However, Clayton countered their claims by stating that the representatives do not possess the legal standing necessary to seek the “extraordinary” relief of appointing a special master and independent monitor. According to Clayton, Judge Engelmayer is “without authority” to fulfill such a request, particularly since the congressional representatives are not involved parties in the criminal case that resulted in Maxwell’s conviction in December 2021. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in recruiting and facilitating the abuse of girls and women by Epstein.

Engelmayer “lacks the authority” to grant such a request, he said, particularly because the congressional representatives who made the request are not parties to the criminal case that led to Maxwell’s December 2021 sex trafficking conviction and subsequent 20-year prison sentence for recruiting girls and women for Epstein to abuse and aiding the abuse.

Khanna said Clayton’s response “misconstrued” the intent of their request.

“We are informing the Court of serious misconduct by the Department of Justice that requires a remedy, one we believe this Court has the authority to provide, and which victims themselves have requested,” Khanna said in a statement.

“Our purpose is to ensure that DOJ complies with its representations to the Court and with its legal obligations under our law,” he added.

Epstein died in a federal jail in New York City in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

The Justice Department expects to update the court “again shortly” regarding its progress in turning over documents from the Epstein and Maxwell investigative files, Clayton said in the letter.

The Justice Department has said the files’ release was slowed by redactions required to protect the identities of abuse victims.

In their letter, Khanna and Massie wrote that the Department of Justice’s release of only 12,000 documents out of more than 2 million documents being reviewed was a “flagrant violation” of the law’s release requirements and had caused ” serious trauma to survivors.”

“Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the Act,” the congressmen said as they asked for the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure all documents and electronically stored information are immediately made public.

They also recommended that a court-appointed monitor be given authority to prepare reports about the true nature and extent of the document production and whether improper redactions or conduct have taken place.