The Justice Department will start sharing records related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein with Congress by the end of this week, House Oversight and Government Reform Chair James R. Comer said Monday.
The committee, led by the Kentucky Republican, voted to subpoena the Justice Department for records earlier this summer, initially setting an Aug. 19 deadline.
“Officials with the Department of Justice have informed us that the Department will begin to provide Epstein-related records to the Oversight Committee this week on Friday,” Comer said in a press release. “There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted.”
But it’s unclear which records will be handed over or whether they will include records that have not already been released.
Calls for the release of records related to Epstein, which were once echoed by high-ranking officials in the White House, reached a fever pitch earlier this summer as President Donald Trump sought to distance himself from the New York financier with whom he was once friends.
As Democrats and some Republicans members of the House clamored for the release of the so-called Epstein files in late July, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent the chamber home early for its monthlong recess, claiming he wanted to give the White House “space” to release information on its own.
In the weeks since, interest in Epstein has seemingly waned. CNN analyst Harry Enten said last week that searches for Epstein were cratering.
But as members prepare to return to Washington in the coming weeks, attention will likely be focused again on Epstein. Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced a Sept. 3 news conference at the Capitol with Epstein survivors, some of whom will be speaking out for the first time, according to Massie.
“The survivors deserve justice and Americans deserve transparency,” posted Massie, who has also vowed to introduce a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation that would compel the release of Epstein-related documents.
Comer’s announcement comes hours after William Barr, a former Trump attorney general, appeared on the Hill for a deposition before the committee.
Ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., in a statement posted to X on Monday, said it was important that Barr was deposed but noted that the DOJ was likely to miss the date originally set for record sharing.
“The bipartisan Oversight Committee subpoena requires these documents by tomorrow, and if the Committee does not receive the files, it will be clear the Trump Epstein Coverup continues,” Garcia wrote. “We will not stop until we have true justice for the victims, and transparency for the American people.”
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee has also subpoenaed a group of other former government officials and Epstein acquaintances, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, former FBI directors James Comey and Robert S. Mueller III and former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
The White House has resisted the release of information in recent months. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who suggested earlier this year that Epstein’s “client list” could be released, in July said no such list existed. Bondi’s handling of the files sparked backlash, including from the conservative commentator and Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI.
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