Schumer, House Democrats accuse Justice Department of violating Epstein disclosure law

Source: The Hill

12/19/25 3:12 PM ET


Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democrats on Friday accused the Trump Justice Department of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act if it does not make all the documents and records related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein available to the public by Friday’s deadline.

“The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be — the Trump administration has 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some. Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth,” Schumer said in a statement. Schumer announced that Senate Democrats “are working closely with attorneys for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and with outside legal experts to assess what documents are being withheld.”

Senate Democrats have warned that if the Trump administration refuses to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed unanimously in the Senate and by a lopsided vote of 427-1 in the House, it could become an issue in the negotiations to fund the federal government beyond Jan. 30.

The Democratic ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee House Judiciary Committee — Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.), respectively — issued a joint statement accusing President Trump and the Justice Department of “violating the law as they continue covering up the facts and evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring.” “The Department of Justice is now making clear that it intends to defy Congress itself,” they said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5657464-schumer-democrats-epstein-files/