The House Oversight Committee surprised lawmakers with the unexpected release of thousands of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case on Tuesday night, ahead of a symbolic House vote to formalize the inquiry. The release marks a major step in the committee’s investigation, which had been building momentum following a bipartisan vote to formalize the inquiry.
Among the released materials are nearly 34,000 pages of documents provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ), covering everything from interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell to video footage of Epstein’s former home in Palm Beach, Florida, and law enforcement recordings from his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. The documents, which were initially submitted to Congress with victim identities redacted, were now being made public in their raw form through a centralized repository.
However, some lawmakers, including Epstein’s brother Mark Epstein, expressed skepticism, arguing that the release lacked impactful details, such as the tape from the moment Epstein’s body was removed from the jail cell. The surprise document dump seems aimed at neutralizing an earlier bipartisan push by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna to force a vote on their own discharge petition, which would allow the committee to bypass leadership and demand full transparency from the DOJ.
Meanwhile, the release has sparked mixed reactions, with some lawmakers calling for further unredacted materials and others questioning the DOJ’s compliance with the subpoena. The full release includes law-enforcement videos that show taped interviews with survivors conducted during the 2005–06 Palm Beach investigation involving Epstein, as well as police body-camera and search footage of the disgraced financier’s Palm Beach home and interview transcripts with Maxwell.
The committee said the DOJ produced the files with victim identities protected, but Congress is now publishing the raw videos in a centralized repository. There was also video from the area outside Epstein’s jail cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. One folder contained an email chain from DOJ officials that included a timeline of Epstein’s final hours. It was written 24 hours after Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell in Brooklyn, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
“Hugh/Ray: Can you verify that the information below is accurate? It’s based in large part on the timeline you sent,” wrote one official, whose email address was redacted. “Is there any reason why this information shouldn’t be released to the public?”
Details from the timeline have already been widely reported: Epstein was placed on suicide watch in the jail on July 23, 2019, and received daily psyche evaluations. On July 29, authorities removed him from suicide watch but placed him in a special housing unit, where he was supposed to be placed with a cellmate for safety. His cellmate left for court on Aug. 9, and the judge let him go home, so Epstein was alone in his cell. His last contact with guards came around midnight on Aug. 10. Although guards were supposed to conduct checks every 30 minutes, no one saw Epstein until around 6:30 a.m., when staff serving breakfast found him unresponsive in his cell. He was pronounced dead, and authorities said he hanged himself.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed the DOJ in early August for all documents pertaining to its investigation of Epstein and Maxwell. The subpoena was directed by a bipartisan vote during an unrelated House Oversight Committee hearing in late July.
“This is the most thorough investigation into Epstein and Maxwell to date, and we are getting results,” Comer said during a House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday evening.
“We have already deposed former Attorney General Bill Barr, the Department of Justice provided nearly 34,000 pages of documents and will produce more, which are being made public as we speak.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, claimed that some 97% of those documents were already public, however.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, claimed that some 97% of those documents were already public, however.
Meanwhile, the sudden release appears to be a bid to neutralize an effort by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to force a vote on their own bill to make the DOJ release information on Epstein. The bipartisan pair is spearheading what’s known as a discharge petition—a rare procedural move that allows lawmakers to circumvent leadership if a majority of House members sign on. Such a vote could put Republican lawmakers, who are also pushing for more transparency, in a difficult position, forced to decide between the political ramifications of bucking the vote or defying their own leaders.
Massie told Fox News Digital earlier this week he expected enough signatures to hit that threshold by the end of this week, however.
“I think there’s a real good chance of that,” he said.
But Comer said the committee was “way ahead” of Massie and Khanna’s move.
“We’re going to go beyond it. We’re already getting the documents from the administration,” Comer said. “I don’t think [the discharge petition] is necessary at all.”
In addition to deposing Barr and subpoenaing the DOJ, Comer’s panel also sent subpoenas to former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, ex-FBI Director James Comey, former President Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.