The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said it has released tens of thousands of records connected to Jeffrey Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice.
“On August 5, Chairman Comer issued a subpoena for records related to Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, and the Department of Justice has indicated it will continue producing those records while ensuring the redaction of victim identities and any child sexual abuse material,” the committee said in a release announcing the release of 33,295 pages of Epstein-related records.
Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee have said that most of the files turned over by the DOJ are already public. California Rep. Ro Khanna said 97% are already public, while 3% are new.
Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said a new disclosure in Tuesday’s release includes “less than 1,000 pages from the Customs and Border Protection’s log of flight locations of the Epstein plane from 2000-2014 and forms consistent with reentry back to the U.S.”
“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,” Garcia said in a statement, calling for “real transparency.”
A review of the documents shows they include public court filings and transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, Bureau of Prisons communications from the night of Epstein’s death, and other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida.
The 33,000 documents provided by the DOJ to Congress are only a small portion of the files the department holds.
The Trump administration has faced criticism for not releasing all materials related to Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, especially after MAGA supporters reacted to last month’s announcement that no additional files would be released.
Epstein, whose private island estate was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was rumored to have kept a “client list” of celebrities and politicians. Some right-wing influencers claimed authorities were hiding it, but the Justice Department and FBI said in July they found no evidence that such a list existed.
Hours before releasing the records on Tuesday, members of the House Oversight Committee met with Epstein victims. Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer said he plans to expand the investigation after hearing from victims and new witnesses.
“We’re going to do everything we can to give the American public the transparency they seek, as well as provide accountability in memory of the victims who have already passed away, as well as those that were in the room and many others who haven’t come forward,” Comer said.
Earlier on the House floor, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie formally filed a discharge petition — a procedural tool to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote to make the Justice Department release the Epstein files publicly.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, said she doesn’t think a vote to release the files will even reach the floor because “they will all be made public.”
During Tuesday night House votes, Democrats signed the discharge petition. Massie said he still plans to move forward with it.
“I haven’t had time to look at all the documents released by the Oversight Committee, but I think the scope of their investigation is such that the things they requested aren’t going to include everything we need, and the few documents we have seen are heavily redacted to the point that they wouldn’t show anything new,” he told reporters.
“Somebody needs to show us what’s new in those documents, to know whether it’s moot or not,” he added.
