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After House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home early for recess in July, he said if they were so concerned about releasing records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, they could have sought them during Joe Biden鈥檚 presidency.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. 鈥� along with 30 Democratic and 11 Republican cosponsors 鈥� filed to try to force the government鈥檚 release of federal Epstein investigation files.
During the last presidency, "neither of those guys said a word about it," Johnson said of Massie and Khanna on July 24 on .
Trump made a that Democrats could have acted before he took office in January.
Democrats controlled the files for four years, Trump said, "So if they had something, they would've released it before the election."
Khanna said July 27 on " that the Trump administration鈥檚 about its plans to release the Epstein files prompted the legislation.
We decided to explore Johnson鈥檚 larger point about what lawmakers said before this year about releasing Epstein records or investigating the case. We focused on Democrats; Massie is a conservative maverick who has clashed with Trump.
Democratic lawmakers began to seek records about Epstein after the into the case.
Before then, political coverage of the Epstein case was typically framed around the financier鈥檚 ties with former President Bill Clinton. His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lost the presidential election to Trump in 2016, and her role as a Trump rival kept the Epstein topic alive, especially in conservative media outlets.
READ MORE: PolitiFact FL: Sen. Markwayne Mullin falsely said Epstein鈥檚 plea deal was made under Obama
Given this framing, Democrats often weren鈥檛 asked to comment on the topic, declined to comment, or didn鈥檛 raise Epstein as an issue.
Starting in 2019, but before Epstein鈥檚 arrest that year on federal sex trafficking charges, some Democratic lawmakers including Rep. Lois Frankel and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, both of south Florida, launched a yearslong quest to release Epstein records.
The Democrats called for former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who served as labor secretary during Trump鈥檚 first term, to testify about Epstein鈥檚 plea deal. They asked the Justice Department to investigate and release records. Democrats later pursued other strategies, including asking a Palm Beach, Florida, judge to release records.
"A full accounting for these heinous crimes is lacking," Wasserman Schultz told PolitiFact in an Aug. 1 written statement. "Those prospects changed when Republicans momentarily joined the call for full disclosure."
In 2019, some Democrats called for a plea deal investigation
Acosta signed off in 2007 on Epstein鈥檚 secret plea deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to state prostitution charges, serve 18 months in county jail and pay monetary damages to his victims. In exchange, the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office agreed to forgo federal prosecution. Epstein entered his guilty plea in 2008.
The Justice Department鈥檚 Office of Professional Responsibility investigated Acotsta鈥檚 role and in November 2020 released a that said he showed "poor judgment."
Spring 2019: Focus on Acosta鈥檚 role
Before Epstein鈥檚 July 2019 arrest on federal charges, called on the Justice Department to make public Acosta鈥檚 role in the plea deal.
Frankel submitted a list of , including whether any politicians lobbied prosecutors on Epstein鈥檚 behalf.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., joined the effort, to the Justice Department鈥檚 Office of Professional Responsibility asking to make its records public.
Summer 2019: Focus on how past investigations were handled
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., invited to testify before the House oversight committee, which Cummings chaired. A few days later, on July 12, Acosta announced he resigned as labor secretary, after and presidential candidates called for him to do so.
On the day Acosta resigned, Acosta should testify before the House oversight committee, and later that month , D-N.Y., was among the Democrats who called on the Justice Department to make public the results of its review of Acosta鈥檚 handling of the Epstein case.
Also in July, the congressional Democratic Women's Caucus requested that the House Oversight and Reform Committee open an investigation into how the Palm Beach, Florida, Sheriff鈥檚 Office handled the Epstein investigation.
Days after Epstein鈥檚 August 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell, Khanna his support for an investigation into the death, writing, "There are too many unanswered questions, and far too many who deserve closure, to leave this case unexamined." Khanna attached to his post a link to a that said bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to the FBI demanding answers about Epstein鈥檚 suicide.
Democrats continued their push for a plea deal investigation, writing multiple letters, including one to Trump鈥檚 then- and another to the .
, , proposed legislation to prevent prosecutors from striking secret plea deals, and Democrats also sought records about the Epstein case from the .
2020 to 2024: Focus on records
Democrats tried other tactics to obtain records, such as requesting them from a 鈥� a strategy spearheaded by the Palm Beach Post that can take years to succeed.
Some records emerged from lawsuits and the federal prosecution of who was for her role in a scheme with Epstein to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls.
When Maxwell was , Democrats continued to push for transparency.
Frankel told PolitiFact in an Aug. 1 interview that the House oversight committee wanted to hold a hearing at which they would hear from Epstein victims, their lawyers and prosecutors. They wanted to subpoena the prosecutors to ask them under oath "why they gave this guy a slap on the wrist, who pressured them?" Frankel said.
However, "We were told by the Justice Department to cut it off" because it could compromise the Maxwell investigation, Frankel told PolitiFact.
After Biden took office in 2021, Democrats appeared to dial back their public calls for Epstein records鈥� release.
"Pushes for oversight and record releases were at times tempered by a need to respect both the victims鈥� pursuit of justice in courts and their fears of reprisals," Wasserman Schultz told PolitiFact. "As disclosures were denied or delayed, we did what lawmakers do and legislated to protect future victims."
In February 2024, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill to allow the release of Epstein 2006 grand jury testimony after a similar effort failed in previous state legislative sessions. Frankel .
A Palm Beach judge released records in July 2024, which showed prosecutors had heard testimony about how Epstein sexually assaulted two teenage girls before they gave Epstein a plea deal. again repeated her push for an explanation.
In September 2024, Wasserman Schultz along with Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah., introduced a , to proposals, to require prosecutors to inform victims of such plea deals. The did not receive a vote.
News Researcher Caryn Baird and Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.
Our Sources
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