House Judiciary Committee Democrats are calling for FBI Director Kash Patel to explain the agency’s review of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Who exactly are you protecting by refusing to release the Epstein files?” Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) wrote to Patel. “In 2023, on Benny Johnson’s podcast you were asked why the FBI was ‘protecting the world’s foremost predator’ by refusing to release the Epstein client list. Your answer: ‘Simple. Because of who’s on that list.’ Now that you are Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), you know precisely who is implicated in the Epstein files, yet you refuse to release them. Who are you protecting and why?”
Raskin stated that “all these promises appear to have collapsed once you determined who was actually in the files.”
“Obvious questions abound: why were so many agents tasked with reviewing documents that were never released? What specific instructions were they given during the review?” Raskin asked. “What information did these agents uncover that led DOJ and FBI to reverse their promise to release the files, and how are these decisions related to the President?”
“Equally troubling are questions that have little to do with Jeffrey Epstein and everything to do with your priorities: how did removing hundreds of agents from their regular duties in two of our nation’s most important field offices—in our nation’s most populous city and our capital—to work on this bizarre project delay or stymie important criminal, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism investigations and undermine the FBI’s readiness to protect the public?” he added.
Raskin went on to demand that Patel provide information such as the number of pages reviewed by the FBI for the Epstein case, the number of agents involved in the review, the date of deciding not to release further information on the subject, and review protocols.
The information is to be provided by September 16.
