Democrats on the House oversight committee, led by Representative Robert Garcia, plan to call on Vice-President JD Vance to testify about the Trump administration's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The move follows a New York Times report detailing internal crisis meetings within the administration over the issue.
Garcia will ask committee chair James Comer to summon Vance, according to Punchbowl News. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Vance would agree to appear. The Times report described how Epstein files became a source of tension, with Vance warning officials it was a “huge problem” and senior aides holding Situation Room meetings without President Trump.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles reportedly believed Vance was exaggerating the significance of the matter and had “bought into the conspiracy theories”. Garcia said: “Why are we having meetings in the Situation Room about the Epstein strategy?” The controversy has persisted since a 2025 justice department memo concluded there was no evidence of a “client list”, drawing criticism from Trump supporters.
According to the Times, participants in the meetings included then attorney general Pam Bondi, acting attorney general Todd Blanche, FBI director Kash Patel, and others. Multiple attendees viewed the situation as a “PR disaster”. Officials explored various responses, including transparency measures and the possibility of 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. Aides were reportedly focused on losing support from core MAGA voters rather than political opponents. The Times noted that numerous officials had “grossly underestimated or simply been blind to the voracious appetite of the Maga base for information about Epstein”.
Infighting peaked 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, which was dismissed but refiled. Republicans who pushed for full release, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace, have faced political repercussions.
