Hakeem Jeffries warns Trump on Epstein files
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to reporters outside the U.S. House chamber on July 3. Photo: JEMAL COUNTESS/AFP via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday signaled he may support congressional action to force the Trump administration's hand on releasing documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Why it matters: Democrats are eager to take advantage of President Trump's rupture with his MAGA base by positioning themselves as the champions of transparency around the Epstein files.
- "The American people deserve to know the truth," Jeffries told reporters at a press conference on Monday.
- "If [the administration is] trying to hide something, as many of Donald Trump's MAGA supporters apparently believe, then the Congress should actually work hard to try to uncover the truth for the American people."
State of play: Two of Jeffries' members have already introduced measures aimed at squeezing the president and his Republican allies in Congress on the Epstein issue.
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced an amendment to the crypto-related GENIUS Act that would force the Justice Department to release all records related to Epstein on a publicly available website within 30 days.
- Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) is introducing a five-page resolution demanding the DOJ "release all unclassified files, flight logs, correspondence and evidence" related to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their associates.
What he's saying: Jeffries speculated at his press conference that Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and their allies either "intentionally lied" about the extent of Epstein's activities or are "actively engaging in a cover-up."
- "At this point, it seems reasonable that it can only be one of the two things," he added. "It's Congress' responsibility, in a bipartisan way, to ask the questions and try to get answers on behalf of the American people."
- Jeffries said he hasn't spoken with Veasey or Khanna or had "an opportunity to evaluate" their bills, but said "transparency and sunlight for the American people is always the better course of action."
The other side: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters, "The White House has a lot more information about that than I'm privy to. So, I trust that they'll make the right decision. I think they will, we'll see."
- Asked about Veasey's resolution, Johnson said "we'll have to talk about all that. Not sure, not something I thought through because I just got to town and we've been inundated with everything."
- But he also said Khanna's measure will be rejected by the House Rules Committee because it is not related to cryptocurrency.
Axios' Kate Santaliz contributed reporting for this story.
