Top House Democrats on Tuesday demanded that the US Department of Justice release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking case that mention or reference Donald Trump. The letter, led by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin and signed by 15 other Democrats, accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of withholding materials to protect the president.
The Democrats cited a since-deleted X post by Elon Musk, in which he claimed Trump is in the Epstein files and that is the real reason they have not been made public. However, no evidence has emerged to suggest Trump was connected to Epstein beyond what is already known.
The letter also called for the release of the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith's report into Trump's handling of classified documents. It argued that Bondi has a track record of using the justice department to protect the president, saying: 'Stop protecting your boss and former client.'
The demand came a day after the DOJ and FBI issued a memo concluding there was no secret client list of Epstein and reaffirming that he died by suicide in 2019. The DOJ also released surveillance video from outside Epstein's cell, but officials did not address a time jump in the footage.
The first batch of Epstein files, released by Bondi to select Trump allies, was widely criticised for containing no new information. Bondi then promised a second release, but the DOJ memo undercut her statements. With Democrats in the minority, the request is unlikely to be fulfilled, and it is unclear if Republicans will support it.
