Attorney General Pam Bondi sought to appease the MAGA base last week by handing over a trove of Jeffrey Epstein documents to Congress.
But warning signals are already going up ahead of their release claiming the latest disclosure falls short of the transparency President Donald Trump’s supporters are seeking.
On Friday, the Justice Department transmitted to the House Oversight Committee thousands of pages of materials in the Epstein files.
A spokesperson for Oversight Chairman James Comer told the Daily Mail that the documents would be reviewed, appropriately redacted and prepared for public release.
But Democrats caution Americans not to get their hopes up.
Rep. Summer Lee, D–Penn., claimed the ‘only new disclosure’ are flight log locations of Epstein’s plane dating from 2000 to 2014, making up fewer than 1,000 pages of the documents.
Otherwise, she claims the files are ‘thousands of pages of recycled content already made available to the public.’
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said only 3 percent of the documents handed to the Oversight Committee are new.
‘The rest are already in the public domain,’ he added. ‘Less than 1 percent of files have been released. DOJ is stonewalling.’
This all is likely to enrage Republicans already skeptical of the administration trying damper talk of a ‘cover-up.’ Bondi is engaged in a cover-up around the sex offender’s crimes.
Bondi handed over the materials at the Friday deadline In a bid to increase transparency after public backlash over her handling of the Epstein files review.
It came the same day the DOJ released a bombshell transcripts of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s the one who told Bondi to give anything and everything to Congress because it would only prove that the Epstein ‘cover-up’ conspiracies are a ‘Democrat hoax.’
He also cautioned that there are people mentioned in the documents who ‘don’t deserve to be’ and claimed that Epstein knew ‘everybody’ in Trump’s hometown of Palm Beach, Florida.
The comment raised alarm bells for those already concerned that Trump is preventing the release of the documents because he and his buddies are in the files beyond just a trip here or there on Epstein’s private jet the Lolita Express.
Many MAGA fanatics online think that there is a ‘cover-up’ afoot and have taken their ire out on Bondi, calling for her to be ousted and claiming she is not being transparent.
Trump has stood by Bondi and asked his supporters to accept the findings that disgraced financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide and that no one else would be charged in connection to the crimes.
But his base wouldn’t accept that and pushed for more.
‘Innocent people shouldn’t be hurt – but I’m in support of keeping it totally open. I couldn’t care less,’ Trump said in a Q&A from the Oval Office on Friday.
‘You’ve got a lot of people who could be mentioned in those files that don’t deserve to be,’ he went on. ‘Because he [Epstein] knew everybody in Palm Beach. I don’t know anything about that.’
Trump concluded: ‘I have said to Pam [Bondi] and everybody else: give them everything you can give them because it’s a Democrat hoax. It’s just a hoax.’
Comer, R-Ky, is leading the House probe into Epstein in his capacity as chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
A spokesperson for the panel revealed to the Daily Mail: ‘The House Oversight Committee has received the Department of Justice’s first production of Epstein records pursuant to Chairman James Comer’s subpoena.
‘The production contains thousands of pages of documents,’ they added.
While the documents are expected to include never-before-seen materials related to the New York financier’s 2019 federal sex trafficking investigation, the spokesperson acknowledged they will be redacted to protect sensitive information and the identities of his victims.
‘The Committee intends to make these records public after thorough review to ensure any victims’ identification and child sexual abuse material are redacted. The Committee will also consult with the DOJ to ensure any documents released do not negatively impact ongoing criminal cases and investigations.’
The redaction, however, could further enrage Trump’s supporters, who have been clamoring for the files to be released in their entirety to avoid the appearance of a cover-up.
‘There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,’ Comer said in a statement in anticipation of receiving the documents.
He initially subpoenaed the DOJ for the Epstein files on August 5 with a timeline of August 19.
The chairman later extended the deadline to turn over the documents until Friday, August 22.