Kamala Harris is addressing why the Biden administration did not release records tied to Jeffrey Epstein while President Joe Biden was still in office.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, Dec. 17, the 61-year-old former vice president and 2024 presidential candidate was asked about the decision not to release the files related to the late financier.
President Donald Trump — who has appeared in multiple images and is mentioned in details from the files — has denied any wrongdoing in connection to his relationship with Epstein, which he has said ended around 2004.
“To give you an answer that will not satisfy your curiosity, 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,” Harris said. “We absolutely adhered to that and it was right to do that.”
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Harris added that it mattered to the administration that “the Justice Department would make its decisions independent of any political or personal vendetta or concern we may have and that’s the way it worked.”
Congress passed a bill in November giving the Trump administration 30 days to release additional information from its investigations into Epstein.
The bill, titled the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed 427-1 in the House and was approved unanimously in the Senate before it was signed into law by Trump on Nov. 19.
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On Friday, Dec. 19, that 30-day window expires, requiring the Trump administration to release the remaining Epstein records — with the option to withhold or redact documents that are classified, could identify victims, or could interfere with a federal investigation.
Kimmel asked Harris whether she believes the administration will meet the deadline and release everything required.
“What he has done to treat the Department of Justice as his personal law firm is criminal in proportion to what it’s supposed to be and that it’s supposed to be an independent body that does justice, blindfolded in terms of for whom but for the country they’re supposed to operate without favor or fear,” Harris replied.
She continued, “So I don’t know that they are going to do what they’re saying they’re going to do, which is release all of the documents that the American people have a right to see.”
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Even as she criticized the administration’s approach to the Justice Department, Harris said she appreciated members of the president’s party who have pushed for disclosure.
“I will commend Republicans in Congress, those who have stood up to say, ‘Release the files,’ ” she said.
A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, previously said in a statement that, “The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked and the Trump Administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends.”
Jackson added, “It’s time for the media to stop regurgitating Democrat talking points and start asking Democrats why they wanted to hang around Epstein after he was convicted.”
