Schumer invokes rarely used law to request Epstein files from DOJ
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is leading all seven senators on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in invoking a rarely used law to request files in the Jeffrey Epstein case and have them delivered to the committee next month.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the group says it is requesting the files under the law, which says an “Executive agency, on request of … the Committee on [Homeland Security and] Governmental Affairs of the Senate, or any five members thereof, shall submit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.”
The group requests the documents be delivered to Congress by Aug. 15, with a briefing of committee staff no later than Aug. 29. The letter was first reported by The New York Times.
The senators also ask that the department take all necessary steps to protect the identities of victims, and is requesting “all documents, files, evidence, or other materials in the possession of DOJ or FBI” related to the case. It’s not clear what enforcement mechanism Democrats would use if the trump administration refuses to comply.