The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Monday it expects to begin receiving files related to Jeffrey Epstein from the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the end of the week.
“Officials with the Department of Justice have informed us that the Department will begin to provide Epstein-related records to the Oversight Committee this week on Friday. There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
“I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.”
The plans spurred pushback from the panel’s Democrats, who said the DOJ was failing to fully comply by not meeting the original deadline and supplying all documents.
The panel, on a bipartisan basis, subpoenaed the Justice Department for files related to the deceased financier who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he died by suicide.
The motion last month from Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) called for the “full, complete, unredacted Epstein files to be delivered concurrently to the majority and minority.”
Comer’s announcement Monday came the same day that former Attorney General Bill Barr was deposed by the Oversight panel on the Epstein matter, the first in a series of scheduled interviews.
Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, said after the deposition that Democrats would require all requested records from the DOJ.
“The most critical thing the House Oversight Committee needs for its investigation is the full, complete, and unredacted Epstein files, as well as any ‘client list,’” he said.
“The bipartisan Oversight Committee subpoena requires these documents by tomorrow, and if the committee does not receive the files, it will be clear the Trump Epstein Coverup continues.”
Republican Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Brian Jack (Ga.) joined Democrats in approving the request in July.
The committee also approved by voice vote a motion from Perry to “expand the full committee’s investigation” into the Epstein matter by also issuing subpoenas to a number of high-profile former Democratic officials: former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director and special counsel Robert Mueller.
