The Department of Justice “appears to have illegally withheld” FBI interview records with a survivor of convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein, who had also accused President Donald Trump of serious crimes, said Rep. Robert Garcia on Tuesday. His remarks follow reports that FBI interview files involving the accuser were missing from the DOJ’s database, which contains millions of Epstein-related records released after Congress passed a federal law requiring their disclosure.
“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, D-Calif., said in a statement, according to a report by CNBC.
Garcia, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, added, "Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Department of Justice. 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.”
Garcia added that, due to a previously issued Oversight Committee subpoena and the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the records must be released immediately to both Congress and the American public.
“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,” he said.
The legal scrutiny around Jeffrey Epstein began in 2005, when police in Palm Beach, Florida, opened an investigation after the parents of a 14-year-old girl accused him of sexual abuse.
By July 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had launched a federal probe, identifying at least 36 underage victims. A year later, federal prosecutors drafted a sweeping 60-count indictment. However, in September 2007, then–US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, approved a controversial non-prosecution agreement that shielded Epstein, along with four named and other potential co-conspirators, from federal charges.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution-related charges under a sealed deal. He was sentenced to 18 months in a county jail but was granted extensive work-release privileges, allowing him to leave custody for up to 12 hours a day. He was released in 2009 after serving less than 13 months and was required to register as a sex offender.
Over the following decade, multiple women publicly accused him of sexual exploitation and trafficking. In November 2018, reporting by the Miami Herald reignited national attention on the case. In July 2019, federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking, arguing they were not bound by the earlier plea deal, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
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