Washington DC - The Department of Justice claimed they have released all the files on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and shared a list of prominent figures whose names appear in them, including President Donald Trump.
On Saturday, the DOJ sent a letter to chairs of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee announcing they have "released all 'records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department,'" as required by the Epstein Transparency Act.
The DOJ insisted no records had been withheld "on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity."
The letter went on to list a number of figures who appeared in the files "in a wide variety of contexts," with some having had "extensive direct email contact with Epstein" or his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, while others were simply referenced in documents or news articles that "on its face is unrelated."
Some of the names included President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, former White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler, billionaire businessman Les Wexner, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The list also included a handful of deceased celebrities and cultural icons, such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Princess Diana, and Janis Joplin.
While the DOJ is attempting to move on from the Epstein scandal that has rocked the Trump administration for months, the lawmakers behind the Epstein Transparency Act aren't convinced.
Lawmakers behind the Epstein Transparency Act speak out
Ro Khanna, a California congressman who co-authored the Epstein Transparency Act alongside Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, shared an X post on Saturday accusing the DOJ of "once again purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email."
"To have Janis Joplin, who died when Epstein was 17, in the same list as Larry Nassar, who went to prison for the sexual abuse of hundreds of young women and child pornography, with no clarification of how either was mentioned in the files is absurd," Khanna argued.
"Release the full files. Stop protecting predators. Redact only the survivor's names," he added.
During an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Massie argued the DOJ has made countless "mistakes" in releasing the files, and said it is "clear that their work is not done here yet."
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, one of a few MAGA Republicans who has pushed for the release of the files, said in an X post that not all the documents had been turned over, adding, "This isn't going away until people go to jail."