Topline
FBI Director Kash Patel repeatedly told lawmakers this week the agency cannot release many of its files on Jeffrey Epstein due to court orders blocking them—sparking criticism from Democrats and other critics who point out those claims aren’t hamstringing the FBI as Patel claims.
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies to the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 17.
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Key Facts
Patel claimed in testimony to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees the FBI has released “everything that has been lawfully permitted to be released” regarding the Epstein case, claiming the agency has been stymied by multiple court orders prohibiting them from releasing documents.
The FBI director appears primarily to be referring to multiple court orders that rejected the government’s request to unseal grand jury materials, which detail the government’s evidence for its cases against Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
But those aren’t the impediment Patel claims: Those grand jury materials are pretty limited and “[pale] in comparison” to the entire breadth of documents the Trump administration has in its possession regarding the Epstein case, one of the judges who rejected a grand jury request wrote and explicitly stated there’s nothing stopping the FBI from releasing files on the case itself, and the government is the “logical party” to release files on the cases.
It’s unclear what other documents Patel is referring to as being blocked by court orders, though he’s suggested there are also sealed materials regarding search warrants that the DOJ used to search Epstein’s property before reaching a non-prosecution agreement with him in 2007.
Democrats have also called those assertions into question, with Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., telling Patel the documents he’s referring to were later unsealed as part of the prosecution into Maxwell and, if anything is still sealed, Goldman questioned why the Trump administration would not ask the court to unseal it, as it did with the grand jury materials.
Goldman and other House Democrats also raised other documents that should be in the FBI’s possession and not subject to court orders, such as witness interviews with Epstein victims and videos that were recovered from Epstein’s residences, and Patel did not suggest those were barred by court rulings.
Crucial Quote
Judge Richard Berman, who rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury materials in Epstein’s case, wrote in his ruling that the DOJ’s request for the grand jury materials “appears to be a ‘diversion’ from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government’s possession.” The grand jury materials the Trump administration sought to release “are merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct,” Berman wrote, adding, “The Government’s complete information trove would better inform the public about the Epstein case.”
Will The Fbi Release More Epstein Files?
The DOJ and FBI have been in the process of turning over its files on Epstein to the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed the government for all its documents relating to Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking operation. The committee has so far made materials that it’s received public with redactions to protect victim identities. Patel has given conflicting information regarding whether more documents will be provided, telling the Senate on Tuesday the FBI was still in the process of complying with the subpoena and working with Congress, but also suggesting Tuesday and Wednesday that it had already released everything it could. “Everything that has been lawfully permitted to be released has been released,” Patel testified to the House on Wednesday. The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding if additional tranches of documents are still yet to be turned over to the House Oversight Committee.
What Other Files Have Not Been Released—but Possibly Could?
The FBI reportedly has as many as 100,000 documents concerning the Epstein investigation in its possession, and the full scope of what those could include are still unclear. According to Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald journalist who first exposed the extent of Epstein’s abuse, documents that are likely in the government’s possession include documents from civil cases that Epstein victims brought against the FBI, information found on Epstein’s computers during searches of his properties, case files from the prosecution against Maxwell, video footage from Epstein’s properties, information about the investigation into Epstein’s death and information about Epstein’s finances and financial transactions. The FBI has also long had a “vault” of documents related to Epstein that have been released but heavily redacted. House Democrats have criticized that many of the Epstein files that have so far been turned over to the committee are materials that were previously made public, and the grand jury materials being held under seal likely do not include these materials. The grand jury only heard testimony from law enforcement about the cases against Epstein and Maxwell, according to court filings, and did not hear from victims in the cases directly.
Are Other People Mentioned In The Epstein Files?
Patel has also given mixed answers to Congress this week regarding what the FBI’s Epstein files might say about the financier’s powerful friends and whether they’re implicated in his alleged sex trafficking scheme. The FBI director told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday he’s reviewed a “good amount” of the Epstein files and there’s “no credible information” Epstein “trafficked to other individuals.” Patel did hedge on his answer, claiming the FBI’s information was “limited” and that doesn’t necessarily mean others “were not involved.” On Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-La.—who has teamed up with Democrats to push for more transparency regarding Epstein’s case—questioned Patel about specific files in the FBI’s possession in which witnesses reportedly named “at least 20 men” whom Epstein allegedly trafficked women to, including a number of high-profile figures. Patel suggested he had not reviewed those files personally and insinuated those allegations were not considered to be “credible,” saying the FBI was “not in the practice of releasing in-credible information.” The FBI director similarly told Rep. Jared Moscowitz, D-Fla., that there may be information about Epstein associates in the files, but the agency would only release information about people who were “charged based on credible evidence,” such as Epstein and Maxwell.
Key Background
Patel has increasingly come under fire for his handling of the Epstein files in recent months, following the DOJ and FBI’s memo over the summer that said the Trump administration would not release any further Epstein files. The memo came after Patel in particular had long pushed for the files’ release before joining the Trump administration, and spread conspiracy theories about the Epstein case the DOJ memo insisted were not true, such as the existence of a so-called Epstein “client list.” Patel and other DOJ officials’ about-face on the Epstein files sparked a widespread backlash from even Trump supporters, and the administration has taken only cursory steps in response to the outcry, asking for the grand jury materials to be released and conducting a widely criticized interview with Maxwell. The FBI director had been considered a controversial appointee even before the Epstein issue resurged, with Patel stepping into the role after becoming known as a right-wing commentator and fierce Trump advocate. Patel previously authored a book in which he published an “enemies list” of government officials whom he believed weren’t sufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump, sparking concerns from the left that he would use his FBI role to seek revenge.