Sen. Dick Durbin has joined a growing chorus of calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to release files involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Epstein case has become a huge thorn in President Trump’s side after the Justice Department last week refused to release additional records. The Justice Department and the FBI wrote in a two-page statement that Epstein didn’t have a “client list,” despite Bondi in February saying the list was sitting on her desk to review.
The Justice Department, however, said in the memo last week that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” In addition to a reported dispute between FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Bondi, far right Trump supporters are also voicing their displeasure at the refusal to disclose additional records.
Durbin, who serves as the Senate Democratic Whip and as a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Thursday in penning a letter to Bondi that requests the immediate release of the files.
“From the lenient plea deal he received in Florida in 2008 to the end of his case with his death in prison in 2019, survivors of his abuse have been denied the full accounting of his crimes and the justice they deserve,” the senators write in the letter. “We must ensure that the American people can have confidence in a justice system that operates without secrecy or undue influence— especially in the handling of such a prominent case involving the sexual exploitation and trafficking of so many victims. Delivering transparency in this case is necessary to providing accountability and answers to the American people.”
Durbin and Van Hollen are asking for a response from Bondi by August 16.
Durbin also called out Bondi’s many public statements about the Epstein case during Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee.
“President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are directly responsible for all this confusion and mistrust, and they need to be fully transparent,” Durbin said. “And they should release all of the documents for the public to review as quickly as possible.”
Five Republicans, including Trump loyalists Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. and Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, have joined Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., in sponsoring a bill that directs the Department of Justice to release more Epstein files.
Also on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president wouldn’t be recommending a special prosecutor in the Epstein case.
Contributing: AP