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can’t shake the furor over Jeffrey Epstein.Democrats are preparing to launch congressional investigations into the administration’s handling of files related to the late, disgraced sex offender if they regain power after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. They say the administration botched the release of documents and are using the issue to hammer Trump and GOP lawmakers in key races.
“The Epstein investigation is going to be one of our top priorities,” Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview, alongside probes into the Trump family’s business dealings, allegations of corporate corruption and the president’s immigration crackdown.
A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the fight to make the government’s files public
“The country wants disclosure, they want release of the files and they want justice for the survivors,” Garcia said.
For Trump, it’s a full-circle moment. The president in 2024 indicated a willingness to release files pertaining to investigations into Epstein. But in office, after releasing several tranches that failed to satisfy lawmakers and many Epstein victims, Trump urged the public and Congress to move on from what he called a “hoax.”
This year’s midterms have made clear that many are not ready to move on. With Trump and his party fighting an uphill battle to keep control of Congress, the lingering tumult over Epstein’s crimes has added to the GOP’s electoral woes and underscored how difficult it has been for the president to put the issue to rest.
Polls show Democrats poised to obtain a majority in the House and they have made it clear they intend to open fresh investigations into Epstein’s actions, Trump’s ties to him and the government’s handling of the files.
Any probe would ripple well beyond Washington, with Wall Street and corporate America already bracing for a wave of Democratic investigations. Garcia said major banks that had ties to Epstein’s financial dealings are among those who could be called to testify.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration was focused on the upcoming midterms and declined to detail any preparations for potential House probes. The administration has nothing to hide on the Epstein case, the official said.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Trump had “been totally exonerated on anything related to Epstein” and through disclosures of files “done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”
Campaign cudgel
Democrats are not waiting until they regain power to put the spotlight back on Epstein.
In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico sought to counter last month’s Republican midterm convention by holding an event with an Epstein survivor and demanding that all of the files be released. In Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff has criticized how Republicans handled the release of the documents.
And it’s not just the candidates who have kept Epstein hovering over the midterms. At a Trump rally this month, a woman wearing a T-shirt that read “Release the Epstein Files” was physically accosted by supporters of the president and removed from the arena by security. Vice President JD Vance was interrupted by a protester calling for the release of the files at a North Carolina rally Monday.
The Epstein files have long been the center of speculation over the late financier’s wealthy and powerful contacts and any connections they may have had to his conduct.
“The Epstein issue blows up into a larger narrative of how Republicans were helping their donors, the billionaires, the wealthiest and most well-connected people at the expense of working-class people,” said Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic operative who leads the Center for American Progress.
Epstein and allegations of child sexual abuse have been a particular lightning rod for elements of Trump’s own base. Some of his supporters helped stoke the so-called Pizzagate conspiracy that sought to link Hillary Clinton to a fictitious cabal of child sex traffickers.
Following his campaign pledge, Trump’s administration released some of the Epstein files a month into his presidency to cheers from right-wing supporters, but many of those documents had been previously released. Subsequent releases were messy, including efforts to redact Trump’s own name from files.
As the controversy dragged on Trump bristled at continued questions from reporters about Epstein.
Trump, who shared a friendship with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, has repeatedly said he cut ties with him almost two decades ago before his crimes came to attention. Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges that he engaged in sex trafficking of minors. He died in jail by suicide, according to authorities.
‘Real accountability’
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Garcia said Democrats have a two-pronged goal of releasing more files and investigating some of those named in previously disclosed documents.
“There has to be real accountability there. And there has to be real investigation,” he said. “This is one of the most bipartisan issues in the country. People are interested in this topic, people ask about it all the time.”
While current House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican, has investigated the Epstein case to a degree, including through subpoenas and depositions, Democrats say he hasn’t done enough to obtain testimony under oath from key figures.
“People are angry,” Garcia said. “The president made promises, and he went back on them.”
A House Oversight Committee spokeswoman said every witness in the panel’s investigation was required to “verbally acknowledge that they understand their obligation to tell the truth.”
In a statement, the spokeswoman touted the committee’s work, which she said included 19 witness interviews and depositions, releasing approximately 65,000 pages of documents and uncovering allegations of sexual misconduct that were referred to the Department of Justice.
Garcia has called previously for Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify. When asked about a potential subpoena, Garcia said all options were on the table.
Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, handled the initial release of files and met with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for helping Epstein traffic women and girls for sex. Democrats strongly opposed his confirmation, citing among other matters his handling of the Epstein matter.
A Justice Department spokesperson referred inquiries to Blanche’s previous remarks and said the attorney general will follow the law.
Blanche acknowledged “we made mistakes and I’ve owned up to those mistakes,” such as failing to properly redact documents, in a recent interview with the “Pod Force One” podcast. But he said those actions had been corrected, and defended Trump.
“I can tell you that President Trump, from Day One, said ‘Release as many of the files, I want everything released,” Blanche said.
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