Rep. Jamie Raskin says he found clear proof of a Department of Justice cover-up after looking at newly released files about Jeffrey Epstein. Raskin checked unredacted documents at a special DOJ office. He says officials purposely removed a key quote from Epstein’s lawyers that goes against what President Donald Trump has said publicly about his ties with the convicted sex offender.
Raskin shared what he found after visiting the DOJ office, which was set up so Congress members could review original versions of the files before Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony on Wednesday. The congressman said the hidden quote was in an email that Epstein sent to Ghislaine Maxwell. That email had a summary from Epstein’s legal team about a conversation they had with Trump’s lawyers back in 2009.
According to The Express, Raskin says the blacked-out section included a statement where Trump said Epstein was not a member of his Mar-a-Lago club. But Trump also reportedly said Epstein was a guest there and had “never been asked to leave.” This matters because President Trump has publicly said before that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago. Raskin believes this newly found report “seems to be at odds” with those past statements.
The DOJ’s redaction process raises serious concerns about transparency
The questionable redactions were only part of Raskin’s complaints. He strongly criticized Attorney General Bondi and her team for what he called a “shoddy job” overall. He said he was “able to determine, at least I believe, that there were tons of completely unnecessary redactions.” This flawed work created two big problems at once: these questionable blackouts of important details and the failure to hide the names of victims in several cases, which Raskin said is causing “tremendous pain to survivors.”
Getting access to the files sounds extremely difficult. The DOJ announced late last week that Congress members could view the original files, but Raskin said the facility is “seemingly otherwise desolate” and only has four computers for over 500 members of Congress to share.
The Epstein files have already sparked controversy, with several public figures defending themselves against association rumors in recent weeks. Judicial Committee members were given priority to view the files first, but that doesn’t fix the overall problem.
Raskin pointed out that even if all 217 members who voted for the discharge petition spent every waking hour reviewing the files, it would still take months to finish all the documents. He’s asking the Department of Justice to add “a couple hundred more computers” to speed things up.
Previously released documents have shown how Epstein attempted to leverage relationships with powerful individuals for his own benefit. It’s strange that they’d make the process this slow, especially when they took so long to release the files in the first place.
Bondi previously said the redactions were finished back in July, but Raskin questioned why the materials are only being released now, many months later. Raskin said they plan to ask Attorney General Bondi direct questions about the flawed process that created these “erroneous non-redactions” and these puzzling blackouts.
They want a promise from the DOJ to fix the mess and release the millions of other related documents still being kept secret. This whole situation raises serious questions about accountability and transparency in the handling of sensitive government files.
Published: Feb 11, 2026 12:50 pm