More than 30,000 documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released, setting the scene for another potential firestorm for President Donald Trump.
The Department of Justice documents were released online shortly after 6 p.m. by the House Oversight Committee, in the latest push to quash calls for answers into the department’s handling of the issue.
But most of the documents produced were already public, prompting Democrats to accuse Republicans of an ongoing cover-up.
Trump ally and committee chairman James Comer had subpoenaed the Department last month, asking Attorney General Pam Bondi’s agency to turn over the “full, complete, unredacted Epstein Files.”
On the same day, he also subpoenaed a string of high-profile people for information–including Bill and Hillary Clinton–with one exception: Trump himself.
The crimes and networks of the convicted sex offender are nonetheless set to dominate Capitol Hill this week, just as Congress returns from the summer recess.
Epstein’s sexual abuse survivors met with lawmakers on Tuesday and will hold a much-anticipated news conference on Wednesday.
But Oversight Committee Democrats say that, based on their initial review of 33,000 files released on Tuesday night, only three percent of the documents contained new details.
“I’m glad all those files have been released to the American public, but most of it is already in the public record,” said Democrat and ranking member Robert Garcia.
“What we need right now is full compliance with the subpoena, and the Attorney General–who once said that the files were on her desk–should release all the files immediately.”
Among the files released on Tuesday is a video clip that appears to feature a young woman recounting her experience as one of Epstein’s masseuses.
Others show the court documents of Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who Trump has still refused to rule out pardoning.
But the files have already frustrated MAGA world and others who have been demanding transparency for years.
“The Epstein Files that were just uploaded by the House Oversight Committee are scanned in one at a time, page by page,” fumed former Trump loyalist Evan Kilgore on X.
“This is the most frustrating and difficult thing to sort through. Absolutely garbage way to upload everything, for the record. Will take days to look through.”
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
Maxwell was subsequently convicted in 2021 on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy for helping Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls.
She was sentenced to 20 years jail, but received a sweetheart deal to move to a lower security prison last month after gushing about Trump to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer.
“I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way. The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects,” she told him during an interview.
Despite her crimes, Trump has not ruled out pardoning the convicted sex predator.
