The GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a new set of materials Tuesday as part of its investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a transcript from an interview with former Trump attorney general William Barr.
It’s the latest tranche of documents to be posted publicly by the panel in recent weeks, as members of Congress continue to pummel the Justice Department for not putting out information faster.
Barr, during his closed-door testimony with committee members in August, said, among other things, he understood potential reasons why some of the Epstein documents and materials have not yet been made public.
“[T]he general principle is, if you have enough evidence to charge someone, you put that evidence out through the process, but you don’t just open your files,” Barr told lawmakers, according to the transcript. “So I understand why there is reluctance to do it. And, as I say, the Attorney General has to make a balance.”
Barr also recalled he had two conversations with Trump about Epstein. One was after Epstein’s apparent suicide in 2019, when Barr said he told Trump something along the lines of, “You better brace for this,” and that his team would investigate it. Epstein was also brought up in another discussion — with multiple people — related to the news of the day, but Barr did not recall the exact timing.
“[T]he President said something to the effect that he had broken off with Epstein long ago and that he had actually pushed him out of Mar-a-Lago,” Barr said, per the transcript.
The committee also publicly released letters from former attorneys general Alberto Gonzales, who served in the President George W. Bush administration, and Jeff Sessions, who served in the Trump administration before Barr. Both men were handed subpoenas for depositions as part of the panel’s investigation, but both wrote they had no memory of information related to the Epstein case that was relevant to share.
Oversight Committee chair James Comer on Tuesday disclosed his requestthat the Epstein estate turn over unredacted copies of the materials it sent over to lawmakers, including cash ledgers, message logs, calendars and flight logs. Congressional staff have already viewed these unredacted materials but only in a meeting with Epstein’s attorneys in New York City; they do not currently have the files in their position.
A second set of materials from the Epstein estate was also released publicly, including two new pagesfrom the so-called birthday book that was put together as a gift for Epstein’s 50th birthday. One is a page labeled “Contents” that lists some contributors to the book, including former President Bill Clinton and attorney Alan Dershowitz; the other is a letter from Coco Brown or “Degenerate II.”
“(so many girls, so little time)? And you there Jeffrey, always grinning like the mysterious mischievous lad you are,” wrote Brown, who is listed as one of Epstein’s friends. “I remember it all with a smile. Though with a melancholy smile to think that you are at mid-century a mere boy, (Though we vampires are supposed to age slowly) ((if at all)).”
The materials’ release comes as FBI Director Kash Patel defends the administration’s handling of the Epstein case in two hearings on the Hill this week. He faced tough questioning from lawmakers of both parties during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, and Patel is scheduled to go before House lawmakers on Wednesday.
