U.S. Representative Robert Garcia of California, top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Monday night that additional documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate are expected to be released.
Garcia confirmed during the interview that his committee has been working with the estate to obtain more materials beyond the 23,000 pages already made public, which contained President Donald Trump’s name more than 1,600 times.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Monday for comment.
Why It Matters
The ongoing release of Epstein-related documents comes as Trump recently reversed his long-standing opposition to releasing investigative files, now calling on House Republicans to vote for the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
This shift represents a significant political development, occurring amid tensions with some congressional supporters and following new revelations about Epstein’s connections to Trump.
The controversy has created a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation, with Representatives Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, co-sponsoring legislation that could force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all files related to Epstein, a sex offender and disgraced financier who died in 2019 in a New York City jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
What To Know
The documents released so far have come from Epstein’s estate through bipartisan subpoenas issued by the House Oversight Committee, not from the DOJ. During his CNN interview, Garcia clarified this distinction when Collins noted the committee had subpoenaed the materials. Garcia explained that Republicans have resisted releasing documents each time new batches arrive from the estate, contrasting with Democratic efforts to ensure transparency. “Republicans have tried to stall every single time they get more documents. They’ve not wanted to release them,” Garcia told Collins.
The congressman emphasized the significant gap between what has been released and what remains in government custody. “What the DOJ has is enormous. It is dramatically more documents, photos, possibly videos, that the Epstein Estate does not have,” he said, calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to release those files immediately. The committee continues working with the estate to obtain additional materials, with Garcia saying they “expect even more documents to come out from the Epstein estate.”
Garcia also pushed back against Trump’s framing of the investigation, noting that the president’s name appeared over 1,600 times in the recent 23,000-page document release. “He wants to investigate anyone. It should be himself, his own administration,” Garcia said, expressing concern that Trump might use his own investigation “as an excuse to not release the full files.”
Trump’s recent Truth Social post marked a reversal from his administration’s monthslong effort to block the release, with the president now saying that Republicans should vote to release the files because “we have nothing to hide.” In the post, Trump wrote that the DOJ has turned over “tens of thousands of pages to the Public” and that the House Oversight Committee “can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!” He characterized the matter as a “Democrat Hoax” and urged Republicans to “get BACK ON POINT.”
New information includes a 2019 email in which Epstein wrote to a journalist that Trump “knew about the girls.” Trump has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he ended their relationship years before Epstein’s death. The president has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and the inclusion of someone’s name in investigative files does not imply misconduct.
What People Are Saying
Garcia, to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday: “We’re fighting to ensure that those documents are released. And by the way, Republicans have tried to stall every single time they get more documents. They’ve not wanted to release them. We have, we’re working with the Epstein estate. We expect even more documents to come out from the Epstein estate. But we also know that what the DOJ has is enormous. It is dramatically more documents, photos, possibly videos, that the Epstein estate does not have. And so that’s what we need, and Pam Bondi should release those files now.”
Trump, on his Truth Social post Sunday: “Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory. Some ‘members’ of the Republican Party are being ‘used,’ and we can’t let that happen. Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein ‘TRAP,’ which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News Sunday that Trump has clean hands: “He’s not worried about it. I talk to him all the time. He has nothing to do with this. He’s frustrated that they’re turning it into a political issue and it’s not surprising, because the Democrats have nothing else to talk about.”
Johnson added that he expects the House will support the bill: “I suspect there’ll be lots of votes and we’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide, and the Oversight Committee is releasing far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit, ever even anticipated.”
What Happens Next?
The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the legislation, with passage considered virtually guaranteed. The bill would then need Senate approval and the president’s signature.
