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By Alexander J. Schorr
Image: Birthday message from Trump to Epstein, released by Epstein’s estate.
September 16, 2025 — By a one-vote margin, House Republicans blocked release of files related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his client list.
Among San Diego County representatives Darrell Issa spoke in support of Trump and voted to block release of the Epstein files, while the region’s four Democratic members voted for release of the files.
The Congressional action comes despite release by the Epstein estate this week of a lewd drawing of a prepubescent torso reportedly sketched by Donald Trump as a birthday gift for Epstein, according to the Epstein estate which released the sketch created decades ago. Trump has denied making the drawing, which bears his signature.
Trump and Epstein were publicly known to be friends and socialized together throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, with Trump even telling New York Magazine in 2002 that Epstein was a “terrific guy.” According to Trump, the two had a falling out in the mid-2000s; he later said that he was “not a fan” and that he had banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
In July of 2025, news reports revealed that attorney general Pam Bondi had informed President Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times with the Department of Justice’s files on Epstein, though she later claimed there was no client list. Additionally, Trump’s name appeared in Epstein’s flight logs at least eight times between 1993 and 1997 for flights on Epstein's private jet, which even included Trump family members.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, testified that she was recruited from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Trump denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and yet, he remarked in July of this year that Epstein “stole” Giuffre from his club’s spa, where she worked as a locker room attendant at age 16.
Giufferre’s family will have a memoir of her experiences published posthumously in October.
Republicans block the release of the Epstein Files
On September 10, Senate Republicans narrowly defeated a push by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to force the Justice Department to release all Epstein files— a source of immense controversy in Washington DC, and especially within Trump’s MAGA base. Contrary to these calls, Trump has directed those in his party to drop the matter of the “Epstein List,” and has threatened to label those demanding transparency for the information of making a “hostile threat.”
All 47 Democrats as well as Independents Angus King and Bernie Sanders voted for the release of the Epstein content. All Senate Republicans except for Josh Hawley and Rand Paul voted yes to table the amendment and prevent its consideration.
In early September, the House Oversight Committee released records from the Epstein estate. The documents include a controversial "birthday book” containing messages with and sexual innuendos, allegedly from well-known political figures such as Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and Bill Clinton.
The release of documents has intensified political division, with Democrats and some Republicans pushing for a full disclosure of files, while Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have accused Democrats of "politicizing" the information to target Trump.
The House Oversight Committee has released tens of thousands of pages of Justice Department documents related to the Epstein case. However, Democrats on the committee noted that 97% of the material was already public, with new information largely limited to Customs and Border Protection flight flogs.
Previously, on September 8, the Oversight Committee released hundreds of pages from a book created by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Back in August, a federal judge denied a Justice Department request to unseal a grand jury record in Maxwell’s sex trafficking case. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence and appealing her conviction, opposed the unsealing.
Inside the Justice Department, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongno, who previously circulated conspiracy theories about a government coverup related to Epstein, has reportedly had a “falling out with Bondi over the issue and threatened to quit.”
Epstein’s death, officially ruled a suicide by federal authorities, has fueled conspiracy theories and has dominated political discourse and attracted attention across the political spectrum and leaving profound reputational implications for major institutions including the Department of Justice and the presidency.
The Justice Department's Role
In an interview with Epstein in 2017, Michael Wolff spoke of the close social connection between Trump and Epstein, including a recording of Trump stating that Epstein was Trump’s “closest friend.” This is further supported by a series of photos by Getty images depicting his history with Epstein. Trump. In a New York Magazine article, Trump once said of Epstein, “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.”
The President’s extrication from his association with Jeffrey Epstein is further complicated as the White House did not deny Senator Dick Durbin’s revelation that FBI agents were told to flag every Epstein file mentioning President Trump. According to a whistleblower disclosure received by Durbin’s office in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Trump administration allegedly pressured the FBI to review Epstein’s files. For two weeks into late March, approximately 1,000 FBI personnel reportedly worked around the clock shifts to review 100,000 Epstein related documents, with the FBI personnel allegedly instructed to “flag” any mention of President Trump.
Public Pushback and Complacency
Durbin criticized officials within the Trump administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, for making conflicting statements regarding the Epstein content. Back in July, Bondi publicly claimed that the Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review,” and yet the Department of Justice (DOJ) later issued a memo stating that there was no incriminating “client list” that existed.
Following a review of the files, the Justice Department released a memo in July stating that it found “no evidence” of a “so-called client list,” or that Epstein blackmailed prominent figures. The memo contradicted previous statements by Attorney General Pam Bondi about the existence of a client list, kindling backlash and renewed calls for greater transparency from congressional members.
The Trump administration's handling of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's case is opening divides among Republican lawmakers, officials, and right-wing media figures as the President confronts backlash from MAGA supporters. Amid controversy, Trump allies from Speaker Mike Johnson to right-wing activist Laura Loomer have broken the administration over its handling of the Epstein issue. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, told CNN that the Trump administration’s mishandling of files related to Epstein’s case, which Trump promised to release during his 2024 campaign, is “a red line that it crosses for many people.”
San Diego’s East County Representative Darrel Issa spoke in support of Trump, saying that much of what his base believes about the case is not true: “I trust the people who reported it to us and who looked at them,” Issa said.
As a number of Republican lawmakers have looked to avoid association with the controversy, Democratic lawmakers have sought to take advantage by forcing their GOP colleagues to show their cards, and define their morality and priorities. Meanwhile, despite Epstein’s convictions for the rape and exploitation of minors, President Trump. who has a history of being accused of sexual assaults throughout the years, has ramped up his efforts to pressure legislators not to release the Epstein files.
Additionally, many of the Epstein survivors are being ignored and condemned. “There has still been no outreach from the DoJ or members of Congress to me seeking to interview my clients,” said top civil attorney general Gloria Allred, who represents 27 Epstein survivors. Lisa Bloom, who has represented 11 Epstein survivors stated: "As usual the survivors are being ignored in the political battle.”
Grand jury documents in the Epstein and Maxwell’s cases only included interviews with law enforcement and did not include any testimony from Epstein’s victims directly. The Justice Department confirmed this in a filing further suggesting that grand jury materials may not include any potent details that that the public wants, even as the Trump administration pushes to release them and not the FBI’s full Epstein files.
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