The release may not be complete, but Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department “will promote maximum transparency.”
US Department of Justice to release investigation of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force the president Donald Trump Administration make them publicly available.
The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who interacted with Trump and other prominent figures before he was sentenced in 2008 on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The scandal has become a thorn in Trump's side for months, in part because he was spreading conspiracy theories about Epstein among his supporters. Many Trump voters believe his administration covered up Epstein's connections to powerful figures and suppressed details of his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while he was facing federal sex trafficking charges.
“Maximum transparency”
At a news conference, Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department would release material related to Epstein within 30 days, as required by legislation passed Tuesday by the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
“We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency,” she said.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) holds a photo of US President Donald Trump with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as the House Oversight and Accountability Committee meets to draft a resolution and report to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, January 10, 2024; illustrative. (Photo: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMAR)
But the release may not be comprehensive because a law passed by Congress allows the Justice Department to withhold personal information about Epstein victims and material that could jeopardize an active investigation. Last week, Trump ordered the agency to investigate several Democratic Party figures who had ties to Epstein, and officials may have decided not to release any information related to those people.
The department regularly states the need to protect ongoing investigations while withholding other information from the public. Courts this year also previously rejected requests from the Trump Justice Department to release transcripts from grand juries investigating Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
