The US Department of Justice withheld and removed some Epstein files related to allegations that President Donald Trump sexually abused a minor, Rep. Robert Garcia said on Tuesday.
Despite a law mandating the files to be made public, the Justice Department has removed some documents from the database where Trump is mentioned in the accusations against sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
American network NPR found that 50 pages of FBI interviews and materials relating to a conversation with a woman who accused President Trump of being sexually abused decades ago, when she was a minor, have not made public.
The Justice Department declined to comment when questioned about the missing records.
“For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats have been investigating the FBI’s handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor,” Rep. Robert Garcia of said in a statement.
“Yesterday, I reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Department of Justice. Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes,” said Garcia, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“Oversight Democrats will open a parallel investigation into this.”
Donald Trump continues to deny personal involvement with Epstein and recently mentioned that the files, which were newly released, proved he was 'totally exonerated'.
“I have nothing to hide. I’ve been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “They went in hoping they’d find something and found just the opposite. I’ve been totally exonerated.”