- Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie plan to force a quick vote in the House of Representatives ordering the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
- It is unclear whether the Justice Department will release the full files, even if Congress orders it to do so.
WASHINGTON – The specter of Jeffrey Epstein is back in Washington as Congress prepares to return to session in the fall.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has called for an early return from summer recess in July to quell partisan clamour for the full release of the Epstein files. But Democrats are eager to revisit a scandal that has poisoned President Trump and divided his “Make America Great Again” base.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, plans to join Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky to force a swift vote in the House of Representatives ordering the Justice Department to fully disclose its documents related to the investigation into Epstein, a convicted sex offender who abused hundreds of women and girls.
The success of this measure is far from assured. It is unclear whether the Justice Department will comply. But several Democratic aides are determined to ensure that the case does not disappear, regardless of its outcome, according to several of their aides.
A senior House Democratic aide told the Times that Democratic lawmakers will focus heavily on Epstein as soon as Congress resumes after Labor Day.
Republicans “will not want to be forced to vote against disclosure,” added the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. “The same obstacle that held Johnson back in July still exists.”
California Democrats are leading the campaign for his release.
Epstein, a wealthy financier with a wide circle of influential friends, died in a New York jail in August 2019, facing federal charges in a sweeping child sex trafficking conspiracy.
The charges followed a Miami Herald report alleging a corrupt deal brokered by federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed Epstein to serve a few months in prison, avoiding federal charges that could carry a life sentence.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Alex Acosta, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, served as Secretary of Labor during Trump’s first term.
Acosta agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee on September 19.
This is just one of several important steps awaiting the Oversight Committee, which voted before the House recess to subpoena all Justice Department documents related to the case. Democrats, along with partisan Republicans, forced the subpoena to a vote.
The first batch of documents was handed over last week. However, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), the committee’s top Democrat, said that 97% of the 33,000 pages of documents turned over so far by the Justice Department are already publicly available.
The Justice Department and the Oversight Committee announced that the documents would be released in stages, while department officials worked to withhold sensitive information about Epstein’s victims.
Garcia and Khanna have led a push for the mass release of documents in the Epstein case, a request strongly opposed by Trump, who maintained a close friendship with Epstein for nearly a decade.
“There can be no excuse for incomplete disclosures,” Garcia said. “Survivors and the American public deserve the truth.”
“A true gentleman, in every sense of the word.”
Democrats refrained from discussing the Epstein files while they controlled Congress and the Biden White House, dismissing the story as yet another far-right conspiracy theory. But Democratic lawmakers now see the case as an opportunity to sow discord between Trump and his supporters, highlighting his refusal to release the files to a constituency that has been demanding them since Epstein’s death in 2019.
Representative James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the Oversight Committee, issued a new subpoena this week to Epstein’s estate, requesting all documents from 1990 until his death that reference presidents and vice presidents, as well as address books, contact lists, and videos recorded at Epstein’s estate.
This could lead to the disclosure of a book prepared for Epstein’s 50th birthday in the early 2000s, first reported by the Wall Street Journal this summer. The book reportedly contains a letter from Trump containing a pornographic drawing and a note reading: “Happy Birthday! May each day be another wonderful secret.” Trump has denied writing the note.
The Oversight Committee also voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, a close Epstein associate serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse numerous minors.
Maxwell and her lawyers are publicly seeking clemency from Trump, raising doubts among Democrats about the reliability of her testimony. But any appearance by Maxwell at the Capitol would create a media stir and draw national attention to the case.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the second-most influential person in the Justice Department, conducted a two-day interview with Maxwell in July. She cleared Trump of any wrongdoing during that interview, unprompted. “The president never behaved inappropriately toward anyone,” Maxwell said, according to a transcript released last week.
She added, “During my time with him, he was a true gentleman.”