Rep. Summer Lee Slams DOJ Release of Recycled Epstein Files
PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 23, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, issued the following statement on the Department of Justice’s release of the first batch of the Epstein files to the House Oversight Committee. The DOJ’s partial release, days after bypassing its initial August 19 deadline, fails to meet the Department’s legal obligation to provide the full, unredacted documents to the Committee while censoring victims’ names and child sexual abuse materials. The motion to subpoena the Epstein files was initially introduced by Rep. Lee during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing in July.
“Trump’s DOJ is pretending to respond to the subpoena. The released Epstein documents are largely thousands of pages of recycled content already made available to the public. This is a continuation of the cover-up from Donald Trump and his administration to protect the powerful and wealthy, even when they are predators and abusers.
“This partial release is insulting to the survivors who have waited far too long for accountability. Every name, connection, and institution involved in enabling this system of exploitation must be brought to light. The American people deserve the full truth into one of the most disturbing abuse networks in modern history.”
Oversight Committee Democrats’ initial review revealed that of the 33,295 pages of documents released to the Committee, only three percent contained any new information. The remaining 97% of pages included information previously released by the Department of Justice, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office.
These include:
- Video from the Metropolitan Correctional Center from the night of Epstein’s death
- Supreme Court filings from Ghislaine Maxwell
- Court filings from U.S. v. Maxwell
- Court transcript from U.S. v. Maxwell
- A Department of Justice Office of Inspector General Report on Epstein’s death
- A memo from Attorney General Pamela Bondi to FBI Director Kash Patel on releasing the Epstein files
- Communications between the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice regarding the death of Epstein
- Police reports and court filings from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida
The only new disclosure:
- Less than 1,000 pages from the Customs and Border Protection’s log of flight locations of the Epstein plane from 2000-2014 and forms consistent with reentry back to the U.S.
Congresswoman Lee has continued to push for truth and transparency around the Epstein files, as demanded by Epstein’s victims and the American people. The motion to subpoena the Epstein files was initially introduced by Rep. Summer Lee during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing in July. It passed with an 8-2 vote, with three Republicans joining Oversight Democrats.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.