Democrats ask Bondi for Epstein files after Musk's Trump allegation

The Hill

a day ago

Two senior House Democrats are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi for the timeline of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) declassification and release of the convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein's files after tech billionaire Elon Musk accused President Trump of being named in the documents.
Musk, amidst a heated, public feud with Trump that intensified on Thursday after the tech mogul relentlessly bashed the president's 'big, beautiful bill' in recent days, accused the president of being named in the Epstein files, claiming that is the reason why not all of the documents have been made public.
'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Thursday. 'The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.'
Now, Democratic Reps. Stephen Lynch (Mass.), the acting ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, asked Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel in a Thursday night letter to 'immediately clarify whether this allegation is true and respond to this letter with the requested information and documentation.'
Apart from the release of the files, the House lawmakers also asked about Trump's alleged role in reviewing the documents and his role in determining 'DOJ's ability to declassify and make public said documents.' The duo also requested a list of all personnel involved in the release of the files and to elaborate why the documents previously released to the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets had 'significant redactions.'
The DOJ declined to comment. The Hill has reached out to the FBI for comment.
'Any attempts to prevent the appropriate release of the Epstein files to shield the President from truth and accountability merits intense scrutiny by Congress and by the Department of Justice (DOJ),' Lynch and Garcia wrote in the 3-page letter.
The DOJ released over 100 pages of files in late February, which included a redacted contact book and flight logs.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who leads the declassification task force, has previously slammed Bondi over the February document dump.
'THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment,' Luna said. 'GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!'
Epstein, who rubbed elbows with royalty, celebrities and other powerful public figures, died in 2019 by suicide as he was awaiting trial over sex trafficking charges.