After Elon Musk post, Dems demand DOJ, FBI clarify if Donald Trump is shielded in Jeffrey Epstein files delay

Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Image via AP.

Two senior congressional Democrats are calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to respond to allegations that Jeffrey Epstein-related documents are being withheld from the public because they implicate President Donald Trump.

In a joint letter, U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts demanded clarity about billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s claim that Trump is named in the files and is the reason they remain partially classified.

“We write in profound alarm at allegations that the files relating to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not been declassified and released to the American public because they personally implicate President Trump,” Garcia and Lynch wrote.

“This allegation implies that the President may be involved in determining which files should be released and whether files will be withheld from the public if he personally chooses to withhold them. … Any attempts to prevent the appropriate release of the Epstein files to shield the President from truth and accountability merits intense scrutiny by Congress and by the Department of Justice (DOJ).”

Garcia is the Ranking Member of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. Lynch is acting Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The letter, released after 9 p.m. Thursday by House Oversight Democrats, references a Thursday post Musk made on his X social media platform in which he asserted Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

Musk until recently served as a senior adviser to Trump and led the Department of Government Efficiency, a White House entity the President created by executive order in January with the stated objective of modernizing federal information technology, maximizing productivity and efficiency, and cutting wasteful spending.

The two parted ways recently, seemingly amicably at the time. But this week Musk began voicing strong opposition to Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” a massive GOP tax cut and spending plan viewed as legacy legislation for the President’s second term.

Since Musk’s original post, he and the President have traded barbs, but Musk has not elaborated on his allegation. But his comments nevertheless escalated public scrutiny over the ongoing redactions and delays in releasing the full materials related to Epstein’s network of abuse and trafficking.

In late February, Bondi, a former Florida Attorney General, released the first phase of declassified Epstein documents. The batch included several flight logs from Epstein’s private jet, commonly referred to as the “Lolita Express” and two address books cataloging Epstein’s contacts. Among the entries were records showing Trump and his family as passengers on Epstein’s aircraft and as contacts in Epstein’s personal records. And he wasn’t the only President to board; Bill Clinton also took rides on the plane after he left office.

The documents were transmitted to the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, but only in heavily redacted form. Despite public and bipartisan pressure for full transparency, the DOJ has not committed to a timeline for releasing additional materials.

“President Trump, by his own admission, was close friends with Jeffrey Epstein, and Epstein was previously a guest at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate,” Garcia and Lynch wrote. “Any attempts to prevent the appropriate release of the Epstein files to shield the President from truth and accountability merits intense scrutiny by Congress and by the (DOJ).”

The letter demands that Bondi and Patel confirm or deny Musk’s claim and provide relevant documentation, including internal DOJ or FBI communications, directives or memoranda regarding the Epstein files and any considerations involving Trump.

The lawmakers also asked whether the DOJ or FBI received directives from the White House that could have influenced the release or redaction of information.

The Epstein investigation, long a flashpoint in political and legal circles, attracted renewed interest last year after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bipartisan legislation unsealing nearly 20-year-old records from a Palm Beach County’s investigation and trial against Epstein.

Palm Beach County police began investigating Epstein in 2005 for sexually abusing minors, including girls attending Lake Worth Middle School and Royal Palm High School. Epstein ultimately landed a “sweetheart deal” that allowed him to continue operating an underage sex-trafficking ring for more than a decade after his first arrest.

He was arrested again on July 6, 2019, and indicted by a grand jury for “dozens” of underage girls brought to his mansion for sexual encounters. Epstein died of an apparent suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial. Twelve of Epstein’s accusers sued the FBI last week, alleging the agency failed to protect them.

Grand jury records from the first case were released July 1, 2024.

Bondi promised to release the remainder of the federal government’s files on Epstein in late February, asserting they could come within days. She said the files contained “a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information,” adding in an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters that Epstein victimized “over 250” people.

Those files have still yet to be made public, prompting repeated calls from both sides of the political aisle, including Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of St. Petersburg, who last month accused Bondi of “stonewalling.”

In April, the Washington-headquartered conservative Judicial Watch nonprofit sued the DOJ for the records after it said the agency failed to adequately respond to multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.