Epstein Files Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, I have always believed that sunshine is the best disinfectant. For years, the American people have demanded transparency about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's horrific crimes and about the Federal Government's failure to protect the victims.

The House Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough review of the Federal Government's investigation into Epstein. Our work goes far beyond the legislation before us today. We are committed to accountability, transparency, and justice for the American people and for the survivors of these appalling crimes.

To date, the Oversight Committee has released more than 65,000 pages of documents, issued 13 subpoenas, and conducted interviews with two key witnesses, both of whom were Republicans.

The Trump administration has provided us with Department of Justice materials and access to suspicious activity reports. Unfortunately, throughout this investigation, Democrats have chosen to manufacture yet another anti-Trump hoax instead of pursuing justice. They have mischaracterized witness testimony and selectively released documents, complete with targeted redactions in an effort to smear President Trump.

For example, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who oversaw the 2019 Epstein investigation, stated clearly under oath that the prosecution team found no evidence that President Trump committed wrongdoing.

Despite this simple and straightforward fact, Ranking Member Robert Garcia moments after that deposition, tiptoed out and publicly claimed that ``Barr could not clear Trump of wrongdoing.''

That was a lie, and we have the transcript to prove it. I invite the media to read the transcript.

When the Oversight Committee interviewed former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta, Democrats whipped themselves into a frenzy trying to manufacture a ``gotcha'' moment, but they failed.

Mr. Acosta dismantled the Democrats' narrative. His testimony confirmed there was no contact between President Trump and Mr. Acosta and no connection between President Trump in the Epstein case.

Next, Democrats resorted to selective leaks and doctored documents to mislead the American people.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Republicans have posted 65,000 pages of documents we have received to date. Democrats, by contrast, have released fewer than one dozen.

In their latest selective leak, Democrats released just 3 of the 23,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate, and they made redactions to two of those emails that changed both the context and meaning of the three pages they released.

When CNN called them out for their deceptive redactions, Representatives Stansbury and Crockett tried to blame Republicans for their own edits, for the Democrat Committee on Oversight and Government Reform edits.

After Democrats released only 3 emails, Republicans released over 23,000 pages. What did Democrats say in response when we released every single document that we got? They claimed full transparency was meant to ``disorient'' or ``distract'' from their manufactured narrative. These are the same Democrats who chanted ``release the files'' every day--until the files contradict the story they want to tell. That is the definition of hypocrisy.

In contrast, full transparency exposed how Epstein appears to be TDS Patient Zero. The emails reveal that a journalist coached Epstein to blackmail then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, the files also show that a House Democrat colluded with Epstein during the 2019 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing with a discredited witness with a vendetta against President Trump. Unsurprisingly, Democrats have been silent about their colleague's coordination with Epstein.

Another email shows Democrat fundraisers invited Epstein to an event or to meet privately with Hakeem Jeffries as part of their 2013 effort to win a majority. Hakeem Jeffries' campaign solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein. That is what we found in the last document batch.

The files underscore why former President Bill Clinton must appear for his deposition. We have subpoenaed him. To date, the Democrats have done nothing to help us secure his appearance.

I support full transparency. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will continue to work to get the truth to the American people and to get justice for the victims. That is our goal of this investigation.

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