Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) on Tuesday joined his fellow Democrats in calling for the release of the federal files in the case involving disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In an interview with CNN’s Kate Bolduan, the No. 2 Senate Democrat said he “absolutely” wants to see the files released.
“Absolutely. Leader Jeffries is right: Either they misled the American people with this conspiracy theory for years, or they’re covering it up now,” Durbin said, referring to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
Jeffries on Monday said Congress should intervene to force the Trump administration to release all Epstein files if the White House does not act on its own. He argued there’s no good reason for the Justice Department to keep those details under wraps unless officials have something to hide — a veiled nod to speculation that Trump, who had crossed paths with Epstein in years past, is in the files.Â
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol on Monday. “What, if anything, is the Trump administration and the Department of Justice hiding?”
Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan prison cell, where he was awaiting trial after his arrest for the sex trafficking of minors. But his case has been a rallying cry for right-wing conspiracy theorists — many of them avid Trump supporters — who have alleged the government is in possession of Epstein’s client list but hasn’t released it to protect powerful “elites” in high places of government and business.
Last week, however, the Trump’s Justice Department published a memo asserting the agency has no evidence that Epstein kept a client list or attempted to blackmail powerful figures who might have engaged in illegal sexual activities.
The memo also affirmed its earlier conclusion that Epstein died by suicide, pushing back on speculation of foul play.
Many Democrats, sensing the anger brewing in Trump’s base, have joined the chorus of critics calling for transparency and the release of the files.
Durbin, in his Tuesday interview, similarly called for the release of the files, saying, “It really gets to the bottom line: Let’s let the American people see the truth.”
“Either they have something, and the American people should see it, or they have nothing, and they’ve got to face that embarrassment,” he added.
