Following the outrage from MAGA supporters over the official conclusion of the Epstein investigation, House Democrats are now taking formal action.
A letter sent on Tuesday, led by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and co-signed by 15 other Democrats on the committee, demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi release all documents from the “Epstein file” that name President Donald Trump.
This demand, which accuses Bondi of potentially suppressing information that could be damaging to the president, comes just after the Department of Justice issued a memo closing the Jeffrey Epstein case. The memo concluded, to the disappointment of many MAGA hard-liners, that the disgraced financier and sex offender did not maintain a client list.
Beyond the Epstein materials, the House Democrats are also urging the publication of the second volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the dismissed classified documents case against Donald Trump. They argue this volume remains sealed, contrary to established DOJ “regulations and longstanding practice.”
The letter states, “This Administration has repeatedly claimed that President Trump is ‘the most transparent and accessible president in American history.’ So far, your DOJ has not only failed to live up to this promise, but you have also consistently hidden from the American public materials and information that may be damaging to President Trump.”
It points to a June post on X by former Trump adviser Elon Musk, who, during a public feud with the president, alleged that Trump “is in the Epstein files.” The letter also recalls vows from various Trump officials to release the files and the administration’s distribution of an initial set of Epstein documents to MAGA influencers in February, which were ultimately heavily redacted and contained mostly public information.
The House Democrats wrote that this week’s DOJ memo “raises the question of whether the White House has moved to prevent the declassification and public release of the full Epstein files because they implicate President Trump, and whether these massive redaction efforts and the withholding of the files were intended to shield your boss from embarrassing revelations within those files.”
On Tuesday, Trump criticized a reporter for asking about the Epstein case, calling the question a waste of time. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Trump asked. “Are people still talking about this guy? This creep?”
Meanwhile, MAGA followers who firmly believed in an Epstein client list are now trying to reconcile their beliefs with the narrative they feel they were led to believe by Trump’s team.