The Epstein Class must not escape justice

Last year, I helped pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It was a hard-won bipartisan law that required the Department of Justice to release records related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation — while protecting the identities of victims.

Here's what actually happened instead: Trump's DOJ released millions of pages, but they didn't immediately release all relevant files and incorrectly redacted others.

They left victims exposed — publishing information that could identify survivors — while heavily redacting the names of powerful people who may have been involved. That's not the transparency the American people deserve.

So earlier this month, I helped introduce a new bipartisan bill: the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.

Here's what it does:

• Gives impacted folks the right to sue. State attorneys general, members of Congress, and Epstein's victims themselves can now take the DOJ to court for failure to comply with the law by properly and fully disclosing these records.

• Puts survivors back in control. Victims get the right to obtain full, unredacted records about themselves — no more finding out what the government knows about your own abuse from a leaked file.

• Closes the loopholes. The bill bans DOJ from hiding behind "deliberative process privilege" — bureaucratic language they've used to dodge disclosure.

• Arms local prosecutors. State and local law enforcement get access to unredacted records they need to actually investigate and prosecute.

As long as officials in Washington keep protecting the Epstein Class instead of Epstein survivors, nothing changes. This bill forces accountability through the courts.

Survivors have waited long enough. It's time for real justice.

Onward,

Jeff