Democrats on the House oversight committee plan to call on Vice-President JD Vance to testify about the Trump administration's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, following a New York Times report detailing an internal crisis over the matter. Representative Robert Garcia, the committee's top Democrat, will ask Chairman James Comer to summon Vance to speak, according to Punchbowl News.
The New York Times report, published Wednesday, described how the Epstein files became a source of tension within the White House. Vance warned colleagues the controversy represented a 'huge problem', while senior aides held Situation Room meetings—often without President Trump—to address the issue. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles reportedly believed Vance had exaggerated the significance and 'bought into the conspiracy theories'.
Garcia questioned the need for such high-level meetings. 'Why are we having meetings in the Situation Room about the Epstein strategy?' he told Punchbowl. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Vance would agree to testify.
The controversy stems from the government's handling of records connected to Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. A 2025 justice department memo concluded there was no evidence of a 'client list', drawing criticism from Trump supporters. The subsequent release of millions of pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act fuelled further attention.
According to the Times, attendees at the Situation Room meetings included then-attorney general Pam Bondi, now-acting attorney general Todd Blanche, FBI director Kash Patel, and White House communications director Steve Cheung, who viewed the situation as a 'PR disaster'. Officials explored responses including transparency measures and even using Ghislaine Maxwell to defend Trump in an interview with Tucker Carlson. Vance argued for releasing all files before Congress could advance the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The report noted that aides were focused on losing support from core Maga voters, with infighting peaking after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump allegedly sent Epstein a 'bawdy' birthday message in 2003. Trump denied the letter's legitimacy and filed a $10bn lawsuit against its publishers, which was dismissed in March but refiled last month. The administration continues to grapple with fallout, as Republicans who pushed for full file releases have seen their careers upended.
