The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released tens of thousands of Jeffrey Epstein-related files it had received from the Justice Department, as the controversy surrounding the case intensified with lawmakers’ return to Washington.
While more than 30,000 pages were made public, the committee’s release may not represent the totality of the Epstein-related documents in the Justice Department’s possession and congressional Democrats have said they largely included previously known information. Still, the files – which include flight logs, court filings, jail surveillance footage, redacted records, depositions and memos – fuel intrigue in a case that has at times driven a wedge between President Donald Trump and his own party.
“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool you,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
“After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.”
The Republican-led House panel obtained the documents as part of a subpoena to the Justice Department last month, and the committee, in the days since, moved to redact sensitive information in them.
