EFTA00173356.pdf

lanitcd *tuts *nate COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY WASHINGTON. DC 20510-6275 July 18, 2025 The Honorable Pam Bondi Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear Attorney General Bondi: On July 7, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released an unsigned memorandum regarding the Trump Administration's "exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein." This memorandum made two official findings: (1) "[t]his systemic review revealed no incriminating `client list"; and (2) "[a]fter a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019."' The first finding directly contradicts public statements you have repeatedly made. On February 21, 17 days after your confirmation as Attorney General, you were asked directly by Fox News' America Reports host John Roberts: "DOJ may be releasing the list ofJeffrey Epstein's clients; will that really happen?"' Your response was: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."' On February 27, you released binders of documents related to Epstein to conservative influencers and commentators,' but despite the major media event the White House staged around this release, these files were largely already publicly available.' After intense blowback from this incident, you appeared on another Fox News show, Life Liberty Levin, and claimed that a "whistleblower" told you that "New York SDNY [was] sitting on thousands of pages of documents"; that "we will get everything"; that you were "assured" there was more; and that the country would eventually see "the full Epstein files."6 1 Memorandum from Dep't of Justice and Fed. Bureau of Investigation on Review of Investigative Holdings Relating to Jeffrey Epstein (Jul. 7, 2025), available at https://www.justice.gov/opatmedia/1407001/drinline [hereinafter July 7 memorandum]. Haley Chi-Sing, Bondi says Epstein client list 'sitting on my desk right nowl 'and Ls reviewing JFK, MLK files, FOX NEWS (Feb. 21, 2025), https://www.foznews.com/politics/bondi-says-epstein-client-list-sitting-my-desk-right-now- reviewing-jflc-mlk-files. 3 M. 4 Press Release, DOJ, Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files (Feb. 27, 2025), available at https://www.justice.gov/opa/priattomey-general-pamela-bondi-releases-first-phase-declassified- epstein-files. s Anna Durkin Richer & Michael R. Sisak, No new bombshells in Justice Department's release ofJeffrey Epstein files, AP (Feb. 27, 2025), https://apnews.corniarticle/jeffrey-epstein-files-pam-bondi-trump- la6af3e9falcfb6d267985a971a4929a. 6 Life Liberty Levin, Pam Bondi on stonewalled Epstein files: We will get everything, FOX NEWS (Feb. 27, 2025), https://www.foznews.cornivideo/6369422747II2?msockid=01561c16f5d864072e93086ff44c65df; see also Elizabeth Crisp, Bondi says she was misled on Epstein documents, THE HILL (Mar. 3, 2025), https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5172660-attomey-general-pam-bondi-epstein-files. EFTA00173356 According to information my office received, you then pressured the FBI to put approximately 1,000 personnel in its Information Management Division (IMD), including the Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS), which handles all requests submitted by the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act, on 24-hour shifts to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records in order to produce more documents that could then be released on an arbitrarily short deadline. This effort, which reportedly took place from March 14 through the end of March, was haphazardly supplemented by hundreds of FBI New York Field Office personnel, many of whom lacked the expertise to identify statutorily- protected information regarding child victims and child witnesses or properly handle FOIA requests. My office was told that these personnel were instructed to "flag" any records in which President Trump was mentioned. Notably, in 2002, Mr. Trump said of Mr. Epstein, "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy, He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."7 Just yesterday, it was reported that the Department previously reviewed a "leather-bound album" comprised of dozens of letters from Mr. Epstein's friends in celebration of his 50th birthday in 2003.8 The letters were collected by Mr. Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell and included one from President Trump that allegedly "contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker ... and the future president's signature is a squiggly `Donald' below her waist."9 Despite tens of thousands of personnel hours reviewing and re-reviewing these Epstein- related records over the course of two weeks in March, it took DOJ more than three additional months to officially find there is "no incriminating `client list,'" and the memorandum with this finding includes no mention of the whistleblower or additional documents, the existence of which you publicly claimed on February 27. The second finding in the July 7 memorandum does not contradict any official statement from DOJ and accords with the DOJ Inspector General's investigation into the Bureau of Prisons' custody of Jeffrey Epstein.10 However, public skepticism of the government's transparency in this matter has been needlessly increased due to your release of surveillance video from outside of Jeffrey Epstein's cell in the hours leading up to his death, which the July 7 memorandum described as "full raw" footage;11 in fact, the footage was likely modified, according to the metadata embedded in the video.'2 7 Landon Thomas, Jr., Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery', N.Y. MAG (Oct. 28, 2002), https://nymag.com/nyrnetro/news/peoplein_7912. Khadeeja Safdar & Joe Palazzolo, Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump, WALL ST. J. (July 17, 2025), https://www.wsj.corn/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein- birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f9 I 8d796. 9 /d. w See generally, DEP'T OF JUSTICE, OFF. OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, INVESTIGATION AND REVIEW OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS' CUSTODY, CARE, AND SUPERVISION OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN AT THE METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Jun. 2023), available at https://oigjustice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23.085.pdf. 11 July 7 memorandum at 2. rx Dhruv Mehrotra, The FBI's Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out, WIRED (Jul. 15, 2025), https://wunv.wired.corn/story/the-fbis-jeffrerepsteinprison-video-had-nearly-3-minutes-cut-out; Dhruv Mehrotra, 2 EFTA00173357 Given the serious questions about the veracity of your public statements regarding the Epstein-related records in DOJ's possession and the effect those questions are having on the public's ability to trust DOJ's July 7 finding that there is "no incriminating `client list,'" I ask that you provide the following information and materials no later than August 1, 2025. 1. Have you personally reviewed all files in DOJ's possession related to Jeffrey Epstein? 2. The records DOJ released on February 27 did not include a client list. Why did you publicly claim on February 21 that the client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review"? a. If it was not a client list, what was "sitting on your desk" at that moment? 3. Please provide the names and titles of the Department ethics officials with whom you consulted on your potential conflict of interest in this matter and any records or materials related to this consultation. 4. When did the whistleblower disclose to you that thousands of pages of additional Epstein-related records existed? a. Through what process did the whistleblower make this disclosure to you? b. Was the whistleblower's disclosure provided to Congress or the DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG)? If no, please transmit a copy of the disclosure to the Committee and the O1G. c. Did DOJ identify additional documents based on the whistleblower's disclosure? 5. Aside from the negative backlash you received over the February 27 record release, what was the purpose of placing almost 1,000 FBI IMD personnel on 24-hour shifts to review Epstein-related records over the course of a two-week period in March? 6. Who made the decision to reassign hundreds of New York Field Office personnel to this March review of Epstein-related records? 7. Why were personnel told to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned? a. Please list all political appointees and senior DOJ officials involved in the decision to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned. b. What happened to the records mentioning President Trump once they were flagged? Metadata Shows the FBI's Raw'Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified, WIRED (Jul. II, 2025), https://wunv.wired.corn/story/metadata-shows-the-dojs-raw-jeffrerepsteinprison-video-was-likely-modified. 3 EFTA00173358 c. Is there a log of the records mentioning President Trump? If yes, please transmit a copy of the log to the Committee and the O1G. 8. Did personnel review any correspondence to Mr. Epstein, including letters compiled in a "leather-bound album" as part of this year's review? a. Did personnel review any correspondence between President Trump and Mr. Epstein, including a letter in the reported "leather-bound album" as part of this year's review? 9. Why is the July 7 memorandum making the two official findings regarding Jeffrey Epstein unsigned by any DOJ or FBI officials? 10. Please describe in detail the process that occurred in the three-month period between April and the July 7 memorandum, after the March review of documents, that led to the findings in the July 7 memorandum. 11. Please list all political appointees and senior DOJ officials involved in the review of the Epstein-related records since February 2025. 12. Please list all political appointees and senior DOJ officials involved in the drafting of the July 7 memorandum. 13. Why does the July 7 memorandum describe the surveillance footage as "full raw" when it was modified? a. Please describe in detail all of the modifications made to the "full raw" surveillance footage before its publication. I look forward to your full and immediate responses to these questions. Prompt attention to this important matter is crucial to understanding the truth and preventing this Administration's actions from causing greater harm. Sincerely, ;Ct.( ) 1444L- - 7 Richard J. Durbin Ranking Member cc: The Honorable Charles E. Grassley Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary 4 EFTA00173359