Republican US House committee releases thousands of Epstein files

Most documents appear to have already been released

Anti-Trump demonstrators march near the US Capitol on Tuesday. Reuters

A Republican-led US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday said it released more than 33,000 pages of files on disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as party leadership looked to end a push by a bipartisan pair of legislators to force a vote on the matter.

The case of Epstein, who was claimed to have took his own life in prison in 2019, has caused a political headache for Republican President Donald Trump, after many of his supporters embraced conspiracy theories about the sex offender.

A July Reuters/Ipsos poll found that most Americans and most of Mr Trump's Republicans believe the government is hiding details on the case.

The files released on Tuesday largely included court documents and other previously released information.

“Nearly everything Republicans just supposedly 'released' … has already been released,” said Democratic US Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, in a post on X.

Republican US Representative Thomas Massie and Representative Ro Khanna, a Californian Democrat, have proposed a measure that would require the Justice Department to release all of its unclassified Epstein records, including those held by the FBI and US attorneys' offices.

Mr Massie and Mr Khanna will hold a media conference with Epstein victims on Wednesday morning. Mr Massie told the Axios news outlet on Tuesday that he would push ahead despite the latest document release.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Mr Massie's petition was “inartfully drafted” because it lacked language that would protect the identities of victims who were sexually abused by Epstein.

Mr Johnson also said the petition is “moot” due to the work of the House oversight and government reform committee, which released thousands of pages of files.

“It's superfluous at this point, and I think we're achieving the desired end here,” Mr Johnson said.

The material released on Tuesday included at least eight videos of apparent police interviews with victims. Several of the interviews are time-stamped from 2005 and 2006.

In one video, a girl whose appearance and name are edited out said Epstein paid her $350 for a massage and sex when she was 17 years old.

Other records include audio recordings from the criminal investigation of Epstein in Florida, including what appeared to be an interview with a victim whose name and date of birth were edited out.