A senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has accused the US justice department of withholding documents linked to allegations made during federal investigations into late financier Jeffrey Epstein that reference President Donald Trump.
Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, said he personally reviewed unredacted records that contain allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against Trump which have not been released publicly. He said the missing material relates to interviews conducted by federal investigators and is absent from the files already disclosed by the justice department.
The United States Department of Justice rejected the accusation, saying no files had been deleted. It said documents were withheld only if they were duplicates, legally privileged, or part of an ongoing investigation. The department has also said some records include false or sensational claims against Trump.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has said he has been fully exonerated.
The White House said the administration has cooperated extensively by releasing thousands of pages of records, complying with congressional subpoenas and signing legislation allowing staged disclosure of Epstein-related files, while protecting victims and active investigations.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019, was known to have social ties with Trump in the past, though Trump has said the relationship ended years before Epstein’s first arrest. The justice department has released millions of pages tied to federal probes into Epstein, with some records redacted or withheld under the law.
Garcia said the documents he reviewed show that a woman made additional, specific allegations against Trump that do not appear in the publicly released material. As a member of Congress, he is permitted to view unredacted files as the House Oversight Committee conducts its own inquiry.
He said Democrats would press for the release of the remaining records, including interviews related to the accuser. Garcia has written to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding publication of the material.
In response, the justice department accused Democrats of misleading the public and said it would review whether any files were improperly withheld. Committee chairman James Comer, a Republican, said lawmakers are still seeking a definitive answer on the issue.
US media reports, including by NPR and The New York Times, have said indexes suggest multiple FBI interviews with an alleged Epstein victim were conducted but not fully released. One heavily redacted document indicates the woman alleged abuse by Epstein as a minor, while other entries reference an allegation involving Trump during the mid 1980s. Investigators marked the allegation for follow up, though no corroboration or credibility assessment is evident in the released records.
The justice department has said such claims are unfounded and would have been acted upon if credible. Searches of the publicly available files do not show summaries of the additional interviews referenced in the indexes.
The woman, with matching biographical details, was among several alleged Epstein victims who filed a civil lawsuit against his estate in 2019, alleging trafficking and abuse by men linked to Epstein. The suit did not name the men and was later withdrawn.
Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2022. Trump appears in some of the released Epstein files, though officials have said inclusion does not imply wrongdoing.
In previously released emails, Epstein discussed Trump years after their association ended. The White House has said references to a victim in those emails pointed to the late Virginia Giuffre, who had stated that Trump was not involved in abuse and had been friendly in limited interactions.
The allegations and responses were reported by the BBC, as Democrats continue to demand full disclosure of all Epstein-related records.
With inputs from BBC