Ex-Obama official files request for Epstein files. ‘People deserve the truth'
Norm Eisen, who served as Obama's ethics czar, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, asking the Department of Justice to turn over documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
'The American people deserve the truth — not a government willing to refashion our democracy to shield one man from accountability,' Eisen said in a July 28 news release from the Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF), a watchdog group he founded, which submitted the requests.
The appeal for disclosure comes as President Donald Trump's administration has been dogged by controversy surrounding Epstein. It began in early July, when the Department of Justice issued a memo stating that no so-called 'client list' exists and that Epstein died by suicide in his New York cell — a move that led many Americans to believe a cover-up had taken place, polls show.
Since then, a number of news reports have shed light on Trump's past relationship with Epstein, who once described himself as Trump's 'closest friend.'
On July 17, the Wall Street Journal alleged Trump wrote a 'bawdy' birthday letter to Epstein in 2003, in which he said, 'may every day be another wonderful secret.' And, on July 23, the newspaper reported that DOJ officials had previously told Trump he was named included in the Epstein files.
In response, the president and administration officials labeled both stories as 'fake,' and Trump has sued the newspaper's publisher for defamation. Trump has also asserted he is being subject to a 'witch hunt.'
Around the same time, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Obama of orchestrating a 'treasonous conspiracy' involving the manipulation of intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Critics, including Eisen, described this as an attempt to distract from the Epstein controversy.
Here is what to know about Eisen's FOIA request.
The FOIA request filed by the DDF asks for the DOJ to disclose any documents related to Epstein that reference Trump.
'It is now widely reported that President Trump is indeed included in the Epstein files, and that he knows it,' Eisen said in the news release. 'That makes our request for these records more urgent than ever.'
Specifically, the request calls for the release of any internal communications between DOJ officials concerning their handling of any references to the president.
It asks for 'any communications…discussing or explaining the process of how department officials should approach or address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago appearing in any files related to the Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell cases, including any communications that describe how to flag, categorize, or memorialize mentions of President Trump.'
Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, previously said that his office had received information that FBI officials had been instructed to sift through thousands of Epstein-related materials and 'flag' any records that named Trump.
This is also not the first time DDF has sought the disclosure of material related to Epstein. On July 22, the organization filed several similar FOIA requests.
A FOIA request is a formal appeal made to a federal agency to access government documents or information that is not publicly available. The process was established by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1966. Agencies are required by law to release any requested information, though there are some exceptions, including information related to national security and personal privacy. Processing times vary depending on the request, though some can be filed on an expedited basis — as the DDF's requests were.
The DDF, the White House and the Justice Department did not immediately responded to requests for comment from McClatchy News.
When asked by a reporter on July 27 whether a newly announced U.S.-E.U. trade deal was at attempt to move on from the Epstein controversy, Trump said, 'You got to be kidding me.'
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