DOJ to begin sharing Epstein files with Congress on Friday, House member says

Records related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein are due to be released by the end of the week. Photo / Getty Images

The Justice Department has agreed to share with Congress documents from its investigation of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a key House committee chairman has said, announcing a possible breakthrough on an issue that has roiled Republican politics for weeks.

Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said department officials told him they will begin handing over the Epstein files starting on Friday (local time) in compliance with a subpoena the committee issued this month.

The subpoena had set a deadline of Tuesday for the department to produce the records. But Comer acknowledged in a statement that it would take time to “produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted”.

“I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter,” he said.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on Monday when asked to confirm the timeline Comer laid out. It was not clear what or how many documents officials intended to produce or whether they would be shared with Congress under conditions that would allow for their public release.

The release of any records from the Epstein files would mark a significant breakthrough following weeks of turmoil among Republicans sparked by the Justice Department’s abrupt conclusion in July that no further disclosures of Epstein material “would be appropriate or warranted”.

Since then, President Donald Trump, Attorney-General Pam Bondi and Republicans in Congress have struggled to respond to backlash from their base, which has speculated for years that others in Epstein’s circle of rich and powerful friends may have played some role in his crimes.

Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell were charged with sex trafficking and other crimes in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison in Texas. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.

Democrats on a key Oversight subcommittee, attempting to exploit GOP divisions over the Epstein matter, forced a vote to subpoena the Justice Department last month for its files, leaving Comer no choice but to issue that request.

With a demand for the documents, the subcommittee also sought testimony from 10 high-profile figures, who had either investigated or been associated with Epstein. That list included Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as a slew of former attorneys general under Democratic and Republican administrations.

The first of those depositions took place on Monday as former Attorney-General William P. Barr sat for a closed-door interview with committee staff members. Barr oversaw the Justice Department when federal grand juries in New York indicted Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020. He was also Attorney-General at the time of Epstein’s death.

Comer, speaking to reporters on his way into that deposition, said Justice Department officials had been working with his committee in “good faith” to comply with the subpoena for Epstein records.

“You can imagine how many documents there are,” Comer said. “I think we’ll receive the documents very soon. They’re compiling everything together … and everything’s coming along.”

He emerged hours later, during a break in the questioning of Barr, and said that the former Attorney-General was “answering every question” and had been “very transparent”.

Comer added that Barr testified that he did not know anything about an Epstein “client list” and that as Attorney-General he had never seen any evidence that would implicate Trump in any of Epstein’s crimes. At various points, both Trump and Bill Clinton were known to associate with Epstein.

Comer said on Monday that Barr told committee staff that “if there had been anything pertaining to President Trump with respect to the Epstein list, that he felt like the Biden administration would have probably leaked it out”.

Barr did not respond to reporters’ questions as he arrived for his committee interview on Monday and departed afterward without comment.

Mariana Alfaro and Perry Stein contributed to this report.