Epstein case: tens of thousands of documents released for "complete transparency"

The head of the committee, influential Republican Rep. James Comer, told reporters at the Capitol that the move was being made with a desire for "complete transparency" so that "everyone in America can see these documents."

These tens of thousands of pages, obtained from the Justice Department, were published haphazardly in a shared online dossier, without it being immediately clear whether they contain new information. According to Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, the vast majority of these documents were already public.

The release comes as the Trump administration faces accusations of a lack of transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case , the New York financier who died in prison in 2019 before his trial for sex crimes.

Because after months of promising his supporters sensational revelations about this affair, Donald Trump has been suffering a backlash since his government announced in early July that it had discovered no new evidence that would justify the publication of additional documents or the launch of a new investigation.

The American president has since multiplied initiatives to try to extinguish the controversy, which particularly affects his electoral base.

His former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, who has become a senior official at the Department of Justice, interviewed Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice and partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, at the end of July, and the transcript of this interview was published at the end of August.

Jeffrey Epstein's death, which authorities say was a suicide, has fueled countless conspiracy theories that he was murdered to prevent embarrassing revelations about high-profile figures.

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In her interview with Todd Blanche, Ghislaine Maxwell claims to have "never" observed any inappropriate behavior from Donald Trump with those around him.

A Jeffrey Epstein-like figure of the New York jet set of the 1990s, Donald Trump himself was close to the financier until the mid-2000s.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July the existence of a salacious letter allegedly written by the real estate magnate in 2003, on the occasion of his then-friend's 50th birthday.

Maxwell further told Todd Blanche that she does not believe that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide, but she does not want to speculate on the identity of the person responsible.

She also claims that Jeffrey Epstein did not keep a "client list" and had no knowledge of any blackmail against prominent figures.

The 63-year-old former socialite was transferred to a lower-security Texas prison in early August, a week after the interview. She was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for recruiting underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit between 1994 and 2004.

The parliamentary commission of inquiry that released the documents on Tuesday was also due to question Ghislaine Maxwell on August 11, but its hearing was postponed indefinitely.

Former Democratic President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton were summoned by the same commission in October to answer questions about their ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but their presence is uncertain.

Former justice ministers were also summoned on various dates to be heard on their departments' handling of the case over time.

Two elected officials, one Democrat and the other Republican, are due to hold a press conference on the case in Washington on Wednesday, in the presence of victims of the New York financier.