‘All we want is full transparency’: Jeffries calls on DoJ to ‘comply with the law’ and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
Key events
GOP-led oversight committee accuses Democrats of releasing ‘cherry-picked’ photos
Republicans who lead the House oversight committee lambasted Democrats for the images they released from the Epstein estate today, accusing them of “chasing headlines by releasing a handful of selectively censored and cherry-picked photos”.
They added:
Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Democrats should be ashamed of this disgusting behavior of putting politics above justice for the survivors.
Photos include a picture of British billionaire Richard Branson
Also included in today’s trove of pictures is British billionaire and co-founder of Virgin group, Richard Branson.
Branson is seen smiling on a beach, sitting next to an unidentified man and holding up a pad of paper with indiscernible writing, as Epstein walks behind them.
Top Democrat says latest photos ‘raise even more questions’ about Epstein’s relationship with high profile figures
Upon releasing the most recent trove of photos from the Epstein estate, the oversight committee’s top Democrat – Robert Garcia – said “it is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends”.
The California congressman added that the 19 photos published today “raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”
Bannon appears frequently throughout latest Epstein picture drop
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon appears in several of the pictures released by House Democrats on the oversight committee.
As I reported earlier, in one of the photos Bannon is seen having a conversation while sitting across a desk from Epstein.
In another, Epstein is taking a selfie of the pair in front of a full-length mirror. Bannon, who was Donald Trump’s top White House strategist until he was fired less than a year into the president’s first term in office, is also pictured speaking with film director Woody Allen in one photograph.
Several explicit pictures as part of new tranche of photos from Epstein estate
Included in this latest batch of pictures from the Epstein estate are explicit photos of sex toys. One appears to show a black latex glove with ridges on the fingers, and another features ropes, restraints and a book on “shibari” – a type of Japanese bondage.
Another picture features a bowl of “Trump condoms” selling for $4.50. On the parody packaging it makes fun of the president’s style of speech, reading: “I’m HUUUUGE!”
Included in the latest batch of photos from House oversight Democrats today, are several pictures of high profile individuals at public events.
The picture of former prince Andrew and Microsoft founder Bill Gates appears to be from at a summit in London, where the former’s brother – King Charles III – was in attendance. The image in the House oversight batch appears to be a cropped version of a picture available on the photo agency Getty.
Here’s the image from the news wires:
Similarly, a picture of Epstein and his former lawyer Alan Dershowitz is included in the drop of photos, but appears to be an older photo of the pair back in 2004 that was already published.
Here is the news wire image:
In the new batch of photos released by House oversight Democrats, there is also a picture of Donald Trump surrounded by women, some of whom are wearing leis around their necks. All of their faces have been obscured, but the president appears in the middle holding the waists of two of the women.
Oversight Democrats publish new tranche of Epstein estate photos featuring Trump, Clinton and former prince Andrew
Democrats on the House oversight committee have published 19 new photos from the 95,000 they have received from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate today. In the latest drop, there are pictures of Bill Clinton alongside the late sex-offender and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. There are also pictures of Donald Trump and Epstein at social events, and even a picture of the president onboard a plane, sitting beside a woman whose face has been redacted.
There are several pictures in the drop which include billionaire Bill Gates.
Another notable face is former Trump adviser and noted ally, Steve Bannon, who appears in one picture sitting across a desk, engaged in conversation with Epstein.
It’s worth noting that appearing in pictures from the estate doesn’t imply any wrongdoing.
Navy sends report to Pentagon about senator Kelly’s participation in video to troops – reports
According to multiple outlets, the navy has sent a report to the Pentagon about Senator Mark Kelly’s role in a video published to social media last month, where six Democratic members of Congress urged active service members to “refuse illegal orders”.
The video sparked fury from the president, who said the lawmakers were guilty of “seditious behavior” that was “punishable by death”. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said he would launch an investigation into Kelly – a decorated former navy captain – for possible breaches of military law. This included a memorandum to John Phelan asking the navy secretary to review Kelly and a group of fellow Democrats’ comments in the video.
According to the New York Times, the Pentagon’s office of general counsel is “providing a legal review and input” of the navy’s report, per a Department of Defense official, who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
In response, a spokesperson for Kelly told the Hill that “it defies belief that with all of the threats facing our country, Pete Hegseth initiated this ridiculous process to try to intimidate senator Kelly for saying something Pete Hegseth himself has said repeatedly.”
A reminder that footage from 2016, of the defense secretary repeatedly saying that service members should refuse “unlawful” orders from a potential president Trump on Fox News, was unearthed by CNN earlier this month.
Judge issues temporary order to block officials from detaining Kilmar Ábrego García
Per our earlier post, a federal judge on Friday morning issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit immigration officials from detaining Kilmar Ábrego García just hours before he was scheduled to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore.
His lawyers asked the judge to block authorities from detaining him again. The judge says officials cannot re-detain him until the court conducts a hearing on the motion for the temporary restraining order.
Ábrego had been freed from an immigration detention facility in Pennsylvania early on Thursday evening not long after a federal judge in Maryland ordered his release.
On Friday morning, Paula Xinis, a US district judge in Maryland, said that Ábrego cannot be re-detained and in her ruling she wrote that he was likely to succeed in further requests of “relief” from ICE detention, citing the merits of his case.
Trump announces pardon for jailed election clerk, despite convictions on state charges
Donald Trump announced he would pardon former Colorado election clerk Tina Peters. In a post on Truth Social the president wrote that Peters – who is currently serving a nine-year state sentence for her attempts to overturn the 2020 election results – is a “Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest”.
Trump added that “Democrats have been relentless in their targeting” of Peters, who served as the clerk for Mesa county. She was found guilty on state charges of election interference, including four felony counts.
In response to Trump’s announcement, several Democratic officials decried his efforts to overturn a state conviction. A reminder that the constitution grants the president pardon power for federal crimes.
“Tina Peters is rightfully in Colorado state prison,” said senator Michael Bennet. “Trump’s corrupt and political attempts at a pardon won’t work here. Once again, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
Donald Trump is in Washington today. We’ll see him at 3pm ET for a bill signing in the Oval Office. We’ll make sure to bring you the latest lines.
Earlier, he’ll take part in a swearing-in ceremony for Ben Black, the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, and John Jovanovic, who serves as the chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).
A reminder that Jovanovic is married to the daughter of Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz.
That ceremony is currently closed to the press, but we’ll let you know if that changes.
