Democrats are investigating whether the US DOJ withheld Epstein’s documents in connection with the abuse case against Trump
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Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Tuesday they will investigate whether the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is withholding material related to the abuse case against US President Donald Trump from the published Epstein files.
In a statement, the committee said attorneys believe the department did not disclose to the FBI things related to the woman who in 2019 was beaten by Trump decades earlier.
“Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DoJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who has accused President Trump of horrific crimes,” wrote Congressman Robert Garcia, the committee’s ranking member.
“Under the subpoena of the oversight committee and the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these records must be immediately shared with Congress and the American public. Covering up direct evidence of a possible attack on the president of the United States is the most serious crime possible in this White House cover-up.”
Garcia said he reviewed “documents of unredacted evidence from the Justice Department” on Monday as part of a weeks-long investigation by Democrats into the office’s handling of the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
In its statement, the DOJ denied that it improperly withheld the documents.
“NOTHING has been removed. If files are temporarily pulled to redact victims or redact Personally Identifiable Information, those documents are immediately put back online and publicly available,” reads a statement to X.
“ALL responsive documents are produced unless the document falls within the following categories: duplicates, privileges, or part of an ongoing federal investigation.”
The US Department of Justice has released millions of pages of documents detailing the lifestyle and friends of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nationally, CBC’s Eli Glasner reveals what the files have revealed so far, and what might happen next.
The back-and-forth comes after an NPR investigation found out other files related to Epstein were not released as they should have been under the law, including “what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her decades ago when she was a child.”“
“An NPR investigation found dozens of pages that appear to be on the Justice Department list but are not publicly shared,” the article read.
The New York Times subsequently reported on Wednesday that its review found several FBI memos summarizing the bureau’s discussions related to the woman’s claim were not included in the published material.
“According to [an] index, the FBI conducted four interviews about his claims and wrote summaries about each one. But only one summary of the four interviews, which describes his accusations against Mr. Epstein, we were released by the Department of Justice. The other three are missing,” the newspaper reported.
Front burner31:06Epstein’s orbit: will justice come?
NPR said the woman named Trump when she made her allegations in 2019. The official said Trump tried to have sex with her after Epstein informed them in 1983, when she was 13. By then, Trump would be in his 30s.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
The DOJ removed thousands of documents from Epstein’s files because some of the published records contained the names or other identifying information of dozens of women who accused Epstein of sex trafficking, harassment and other crimes.
Some of the deleted text included alleged criminal behavior by Trump and former president Bill Clinton, including allegations of sex with teenage girls. Those claims have not been confirmed by any investigators.
“Some of the documents contain false and outrageous claims against President Trump that were brought to the FBI before the 2020 election,” the Justice Department wrote. statement on Jan. 30.
The president did not mention Epstein or the files during his lengthy state of the nation address Tuesday night, with several survivors in attendance. In a controversial event outside the US Capitol, Garcia also said that a summary had occurred.
“Donald Trump may call this investigation a hoax. He may try to derail our work, but our message to him is very clear: our investigation has just begun,” said a ranking member of the committee.
“We will get justice for these survivors.”
