Documents related to convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released. Photo / Getty Images
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has released 33,295 pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a bipartisan group of United States lawmakers seeks more transparency from the Trump Administration on the subject.
But the highly anticipated tranche of documents provided to Congress by the Trump Administration appears to mostly contain information that was already in the public domain.
That has drawn complaints from Democrats and has done little to tamp down an effort in the GOP-controlled House to force the Trump Administration to turn over more documents.
“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents [the committee chairman] has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information,” Representative Robert Garcia (California), the panel’s ranking Democrat, said in a statement. “To the American people - don’t let this fool you.”
House Oversight chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) subpoenaed the Justice Department for the documents in August, and a statement from his office indicated he expected the department to continue producing records related to Epstein, while taking the proper care to redact personal information of victims and other unsavoury material.
A Washington Post analysis of the documents released by the committee found that at least two-thirds of them are court documents from various Epstein-related investigations and thus probably were publicly available already.
Garcia said in a statement that 97% of the documents contained information the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies had already disclosed.
The only new disclosure, Garcia said previously, was fewer than 1000 pages from US Customs and Border Protection’s record of flight locations of Epstein’s plane from 2000 to 2014.
Some of the documents released by the committee, including a flight log from the early 1990s, appeared to be more heavily redacted than ones Attorney-General Pam Bondi released previously.
“The first tranche appears to be largely in the public domain, so it doesn’t feel like it’s really the stuff that we should be putting out,” said Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), a member of the Oversight Committee. “I’m glad they produced it, but let’s get to the rest, ASAP.”
Krishnamoorthi said victims of Epstein with whom the committee met privately today said that “all kinds of other files are out there that should logically be produced”.
Committee staff members said more material on Epstein would be forthcoming. “The Trump DOJ is in compliance with the committee’s subpoena and is providing documents on a rolling basis,” a committee spokesman said in a statement.
In releasing the files, Comer and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) may be trying to head off a divisive floor fight over a bipartisan manoeuvre called a discharge petition aimed at releasing the full files within 30 days.
But momentum behind the petition did not seem to be stalling. Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California) today began collecting signatures for their petition, which needs 218 votes to circumvent leadership and go to the floor.
At least 86 lawmakers have signed on to the petition, including at least four Republicans, in an effort that kicked off just hours before the document release.
“These women have been fighting for 30 years for justice and have nothing,” said Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), who has signed the petition.
Representative Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee), however, called the discharge a “moot point”, given that the committee has now publicly released documents. “I don’t see any reason for it,” he said.
Johnson also has his own resolution, expected to be considered on the House floor this week, that endorses the investigation by Comer’s committee and its process.
Massie and Khanna are holding a news conference tomorrow with about a dozen survivors of Epstein’s abuse outside the US Capitol. Some survivors are expected to speak publicly for the first time.
The brothers of Virginia Giuffre, who was the most outspoken of Epstein’s victims and who died by suicide in April at the age of 41, will also appear at a “Stand With Survivors” rally on Capitol Hill tomorrow, according to a spokesperson.
If the discharge petition succeeds in the House, the matter would need to be taken up and passed by the Senate. It would then need to be signed into law by President Donald Trump. Neither Senate leaders nor the President have indicated plans to prioritise the initiative.
Nonetheless, House Republicans have been pushing for weeks for the Trump Administration to release additional materials related to Epstein after the Justice Department, led by Bondi, all but closed the probe in early July with a memo affirming that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no “client list” naming powerful men who may have abused underage girls.
Trump has repeatedly urged people to move on from the matter.
Much of the GOP base was unsatisfied after being promised by Trump and other officials for full transparency after President Joe Biden left the White House.
Republicans and Democrats pressured Comer’s panel to subpoena the documents from the Justice Department, and the committee has also requested interviews from other high-profile officials during Republican and Democratic administrations, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey.
Over the recess, Comer’s committee also subpoenaed the Epstein estate for any “birthday book” allegedly given to him on his 50th birthday by his imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as any “client list” that may exist, with a date for compliance of September 8.
Comer also requested all non-disclosure agreements; Epstein’s address and contacts in what the subpoena calls his “Black Book” between January 1, 1990, and Epstein’s death on August 10, 2019; flight logs; and bank account documents.
“It is our understanding that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in custody and control of documents that may further the Committee’s investigation and legislative goals,” Comer said in a statement.
“Further, it is our understanding the Estate is ready and willing to provide these documents to the Committee pursuant to a subpoena.”
This week, Comer sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent requesting confidential financial information about Epstein and Maxwell, adding to the pressure Bessent already faces from Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) on the issue.
- Paul Kane, Aaron Schaffer and Ence Morse contributed to this report.
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