Accusations of Withholding Epstein Files
The leading Democrat on the congressional committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein has accused the US Justice Department of withholding files containing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor made against former President Donald Trump.
Robert Garcia, a member of the House Oversight Committee, stated that he had personally reviewed documents containing the allegation that have not been made public.
In response, the Justice Department asserted that "NOTHING has been deleted," clarifying that documents were withheld only if they were "duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation."
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to the Epstein case and recently claimed he has been "totally exonerated." The Justice Department has also previously stated that some of the files contain "untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump."
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said on Tuesday,
"By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee's subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein's Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him."
Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was reportedly friends with Trump for several years before they fell out in the early 2000s, according to Trump, two years prior to Epstein's first arrest.
Release and Redaction of Epstein Files
The Justice Department has released millions of files revealing findings from federal investigations into Epstein. These staged releases were prompted by legislation signed by the president, who had previously resisted releasing the material.
Some files were redacted, and officials have acknowledged that other files were not released at all. The legislation permitted the Justice Department to withhold certain files to protect active investigations or prosecutions and to safeguard the identities of victims.
Garcia stated that the files he reviewed "make it clear" that a woman "made additional, specific allegations" against Trump that "are not reflected" in the publicly released records.
As a member of Congress, Garcia is legally authorized to view unredacted versions of the released Epstein files at the Justice Department, as the House Oversight Committee conducts its own investigation into Epstein.
Demands for Full Disclosure
On Thursday, Garcia announced that he and other Democrats would work over the coming days to demand the release of the remaining unreleased files, including those related to the woman's potential allegations against Trump.
"We have seen the DOJ files and the archive manifest that clearly shows that the interviews and information around this survivor have been removed and are missing from the DOJ files," Garcia told reporters in New York.
"Where are these files? Who removed them? Those questions have to be answered," he added.
Garcia previously wrote to US Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding their publication.
In response, Bondi's Justice Department accused Democrats on the committee of "misleading the public while manufacturing outrage from their radical anti-Trump base."
In a separate statement posted on X, the department also said it would review whether any files had been improperly withheld.
Committee Responses
Kentucky Republican Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Thursday that lawmakers are still investigating the accusation that the Justice Department withheld files related to Trump.
"We're still looking to get a definitive answer on that,"he said when asked about the matter.
"This is [the] largest government cover-up in modern history. We are demanding answers,"the Democrats on the committee said in a statement on Wednesday.
Missing FBI Interviews
Garcia's letter to Bondi followed US media reports suggesting that three FBI witness interviews with an alleged Epstein victim were missing from the publicly released files.
NPR first reported that indexes and serial numbers in the files indicated the FBI conducted four interviews with the woman in 2019 as part of its investigation into Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed in 2022 for sex trafficking.
However, three interview summaries and related notes, totaling more than 50 pages, are not available on the Justice Department's website, according to reports by NPR and others including The New York Times.
The woman told federal agents that Epstein raped her as a minor in the early 1980s, according to one heavily redacted document.
Other entries in the files indicate a woman—confirmed by Garcia in unredacted documents to be the same accuser—alleged she was sexually abused by Trump between 1983 and 1985, when she would have been aged 13 to 15.
That allegation also appears elsewhere in the Epstein files, in a list compiled by the FBI of allegations made against Trump by callers to its national Threat Operation Center tip line.
Many tips in that document appear to have been dismissed by investigators as not credible, with no supporting evidence provided. However, FBI agents marked this allegation for follow-up, forwarding it to a Washington field office "to conduct interview."
Justice Department's Position
Contacted by the BBC on Wednesday, the Justice Department referred to a statement issued after the January release of Epstein files, saying:
"Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.
To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already."
No results are found when searching the Justice Department's publicly available Epstein files for FBI documents summarizing the further three interviews with the woman.
Another search for a photograph and two other documents listed in the index also yields no results.
There is no information in the available documents suggesting that agents corroborated the woman's accusations or assessed their credibility.
Garcia's Accusations of a Cover-Up
In his letter to Bondi, Garcia stated that the released Epstein files "show that the FBI took these allegations seriously." He accused the Trump administration of a "cover-up" by withholding other interviews related to the witness.
A woman with matching biographical details was among several alleged Epstein victims who filed a civil lawsuit against his estate in 2019.
She alleged Epstein trafficked her to New York in the 1980s where she was raped by men linked to him, though the lawsuit does not identify the men.
The woman voluntarily dismissed her claim against Epstein's estate in 2021, according to a letter filed at the time by her lawyer. The lawyer declined to comment when contacted by the BBC on Wednesday.
Epstein and Trump's Relationship
Epstein's association with Trump appears to have begun in the late 1980s, with the pair pictured together at various events during the following decade.
In a 2002 New York Magazine interview, Trump described Epstein as a "terrific guy" and said,
"it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
Trump appears in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department, though an appearance does not imply wrongdoing.
Several files released by the Justice Department and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee include emails in which Epstein discusses Trump years after their association ended.
In one 2011 email released by Democrats, Epstein wrote to Maxwell:
"I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him."
At the time, the White House stated the victim referred to was the late Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide earlier this year. It said Giuffre "repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and 'couldn't have been friendlier' to her in their limited interactions."
