U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) ) holds a property league pursuing the play caucus luncheon connected Capitol Hill successful Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
A radical of Senate Democrats connected Wednesday cited an obscure law to inquire the Justice Department to manus implicit transgression investigative files related to enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by Aug. 15.
The petition is the latest salvo successful an effort by Democrats and immoderate Republicans successful Congress to property the Trump medication to merchandise the alleged Epstein files aft reneging connected its earlier promises to bash so.
Eight senators signed a missive to Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking the files; Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and each 7 Democrats who beryllium connected the committee.
The missive cites a conception of national instrumentality that says that an enforcement bureau shall taxable "any accusation requested of it relating to immoderate substance wrong the jurisdiction of the committee" erstwhile sought by "any 5 members" of the Senate Governmental Affairs panel.
"After missteps and failed promises by your Department regarding these files, it is indispensable that the Trump Administration supply afloat transparency," the missive said.
The missive notes that successful 2024, President Donald Trump, portion campaigning for the White House, said successful a societal media station that helium would declassify the Epstein files.
"When asked again whether helium would merchandise an Epstein lawsuit list, President Trump stated, 'Yeah, I'd surely instrumentality a look astatine it. […] I'd beryllium inclined to bash the Epstein. I'd person nary occupation with it,' " the missive said.
"Shortly aft becoming Attorney General, you indicated that the Epstein lawsuit database was 'sitting connected my table close present to review.' "
A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed the section had received the letter, but declined to remark connected it.
Trump and Bondi, for weeks, person been criticized for the Justice Department's determination not to merchandise the files contempt anterior promises.
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The Justice Department, to astatine slightest mitigate immoderate of that backlash, has asked respective national judges to merchandise the transcripts of expansive assemblage testimony collected to make transgression indictments of Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. On Tuesday night, the Justice Department laid retired its tribunal filings its justifications for seeking the merchandise of the testimony.
"There is undoubtedly a intelligibly expressed involvement from the nationalist successful Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes," the filings successful U.S. District Court successful Manhattan said.
But those expansive assemblage transcripts are not expected to incorporate anyplace adjacent to the magnitude of accusation successful the Epstein lawsuit files held by the Justice Department.
Epstein died successful August 2019 successful a national jail, weeks aft being charged with kid enactment trafficking. Maxwell is serving a 20-year situation word aft being convicted successful 2021 of grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse.
Trump connected Tuesday told reporters that Epstein "stole" respective workers from the spa of his Mar-a-Lago nine successful Palm Beach, Florida, which led to a falling retired betwixt the 2 men.
One of those workers was Virginia Giuffre, who successful the past said that she was spotted by Maxwell portion moving astatine the nine astatine property 17, and past recruited to enactment for, and beryllium abused by, Epstein and different men.
Giuffre died by termination successful April.
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