Kamala Harris said the Biden administration was right not to pressure the Justice Department to release files tied to Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the White House must keep a strict distance from prosecutors.
In an interview with ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, Harris said the administration believed the Justice Department should operate independently of political influence—even if that position created political downsides.
“To give you an answer that will not satisfy your curiosity, I will tell you, we, perhaps to our damage, but we strongly and rightly believed that there should be an absolute separation between what we wanted as an administration and what the Department of Justice did. We absolutely adhered to that, and it was right to do that,” Harris told Kimmel.
Her comments drew criticism from multiple sides. Some left-leaning voices argued the administration should have pushed harder for disclosure and used the material politically, while conservatives ridiculed Harris’ explanation and pointed to other instances where they claim the administration was not fully “hands-off” with the DOJ.
Harris also suggested Donald Trump could try to prevent the release of Epstein-related documents, while praising Republicans who have publicly called for making the files public.
The Epstein records, however, involve multiple jurisdictions, victim-privacy protections, and ongoing litigation—factors that have complicated disclosure regardless of which party controls the White House.
