Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, has accused FBI Director Kash Patel of an “embarrassing lack of transparency” over the Trump administration’s handling of documents concerning Jeffrey Epstein.
Raskin’s comments were made in a letter obtained by NOTUS ahead of a committee hearing with Patel next week.
The letter runs through Patel’s past calls for transparency in the Epstein case and alleges the FBI is “plainly undermining and violating these promises of total transparency, comprehensive document production, and investigative zeal.”
Raskin also requested that Patel produce documents related to the FBI’s review of Epstein files. And it comes at a time that the president is facing increased scrutiny over his past relationship with Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.
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Patel is scheduled to appear before the judiciary panel on Sept. 17. As Democrats seek to keep the Epstein controversy front and center in their messaging, it’s likely that Raskin and committee Democrats will question Patel for past comments on documents related to Epstein.
The FBI declined to comment on the letter.
Raskin detailed how MAGA influencer Benny Johnson asked Patel on his podcast in 2023 why the FBI was “protecting the world’s foremost predator” by refusing to release the Epstein client list. Patel responded, “Simple. Because of who’s on that list.”
“Now that you are the Director of the FBI, you know precisely who is implicated in the Epstein files, yet you refuse to release them. Who are you protecting and why?” Raskin asked.
“Your statement was not a random one-off comment,” Raskin continued. “You have repeatedly told the public that the FBI has the power to release the Epstein files, that there exists no reason not to release them, and that you, unlike your predecessors, would be transparent with the American people.”
In the letter, Raskin emphasized Patel’s record of calling for transparency on files concerning Epstein, including his 2023 comment on Johnson’s podcast to House Republicans to “put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.”
The letter also mentions Patel’s public commitment from February that the FBI would turn over Epstein documents to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned—and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued,” Patel posted on X at the time. “If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be.”
Raskin took particular aim at Patel’s handling of the FBI’s review of Epstein files, in which the director reportedly drafted hundreds of employees to scour more than 100,000 pages of materials and to redact Trump’s name. The review, according to The New York Times, resulted in the DOJ and FBI releasing a July joint memo claiming that a specific Epstein “client list” did not exist.
Raskin requested that Patel provide documents related to the bureau’s review of Epstein files and respond to seven questions on the matter before the day of the hearing.
“Obvious questions abound,” Raskin wrote. “Why were so many agents tasked with reviewing documents that were never released? What specific instructions were they given during the review? What information did these agents uncover that led DOJ and FBI to reverse their promise to release the files, and how are these decisions related to the President?”
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