Dem lawmakers say they caught Trump admin red-handed in Epstein 'cover-up'

After reviewing unredacted files on Jeffrey Epstein at the Justice Department headquarters, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) accused the Trump administration on Tuesday of appearing to have “illegally withheld FBI interviews” with a person accusing President Donald Trump of “heinous crimes.”

“For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats have been investigating the FBI’s handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor,” Garcia said in a statement released by Oversight Committee Democrats on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the [DOJ]. Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes. Oversight Democrats will open a parallel investigation into this.”

The DOJ has been under fire for weeks for scrubbing files from its public database of files on Epstein, actions that critics have alleged to be blatantly unlawful. Specifically, the DOJ has scrubbed a significant number of files that include allegations against Trump, including evidence that Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell may have possessed blackmail on the president, as well as FBI interview records detailing serious accusations.

“Under the Oversight Committee’s subpoena and the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these records must immediately be shared with Congress and the American public,” Garcia continued. “Covering up direct evidence of a potential assault by the president of the United States is the most serious possible crime in this White House cover up.”

A report from NPR published on Tuesday appeared to corroborate Garcia’s claim, with the outlet’s investigation finding that the DOJ appeared to have scrubbed “dozens of pages that appear to be catalogued by the [agency] but [were] not shared publicly.”