Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have accused the Justice Department of withholding critical files related to Jeffrey Epstein, saying that nearly all of the 33,295 pages recently released were already public.
In a statement on Tuesday, committee Democrats said that 97 percent of the material had previously been made available by federal, state, or local authorities.
“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents Chairman James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool you,” they said, adding that the release included “no client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.”
Lawmakers argued that the Justice Department has failed to meet its legal obligations to provide complete, unredacted files while ensuring protections for victims and censoring child sexual abuse material.
They urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to comply with a subpoena and hand over the full set of documents immediately.
‘What’s new in those documents?’
The partial release comes as bipartisan pressure mounts in Congress for full disclosure. Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said the document trove showed little new information, telling CBS News: “Somebody needs to show us what’s new in those documents.”
Massie and Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation requiring the DOJ to release all Epstein records within 30 days.
Massie also filed a discharge petition on Tuesday to force a House vote.
Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender with ties to influential figures, reportedly died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
A Justice Department report released in July reaffirmed that conclusion and rejected claims that Epstein had kept a secret client list. That determination has fuelled scepticism among Trump-aligned Republicans and conspiracy theorists, who continue to allege a government cover-up.
