Can Democrats shed some new light on the Epstein files when they take over?

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Lawmakers have pledged to use new majorities in House and Senate to pursue the investigation into Epstein's network.

One of the key issues Democrats brought up against the Trump administration and the Republican Party in this month’s midterm elections was how they had handled the investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

United States President Donald Trump had pledged to release troves of files on Epstein gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other federal agencies when he was campaigning for president in 2024.

But after taking office, Trump administration officials were accused of thwarting efforts to bring transparency to the issue, and Trump himself publicly rebuked the handful of Republican lawmakers who sided with Democrats to force declassification of what federal investigators had uncovered over the years. Some of those lawmakers even lost their seats after Trump withdrew his support and backed primary opponents.

Now, Democratic lawmakers, who will control a majority in both the House and Senate beginning in January, say they plan to use legislative powers to confront the Trump administration on Epstein. As the majority party, Democrats can appoint lawmakers to lead key committees that have the power to issue subpoenas to officials and hold hearings where those officials could be asked to answer questions under oath about the handling of the files.

Although Trump could still use his veto power to overrule legislation Democrats might pass, for instance, to mandate further disclosures from the administration, the committees they control will wield considerable investigative power that was previously not exercised by Republicans.

On Tuesday, the currently Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee issued findings (PDF) from a 15-month investigation into the federal government’s role in the Epstein investigation. The committee called for specific steps for the Department of Justice to take, including interviewing and re-interviewing key witnesses, and further investigating Epstein’s network of associates.

The committee stopped short of…

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