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By Hollie Silverman
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House Judiciary Committee Democrats released a report Monday calling for an independent special counsel to investigate President Donald Trump’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that accounts from women and records released in the Epstein case warrant further investigation into whether Trump committed wrongdoing.
The Democratic staff report, titled We Have Certain Things in Common, Jeffrey: The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging in the Epstein Files and DOJ’s Desperate Efforts to Cover it Up, examines accounts involving 11 women. According to the report, five directly accuse Trump of serious sexual misconduct in Epstein’s company or presence. The allegations are disputed and have not resulted in criminal findings against Trump.
The report also accuses the Department of Justice (DOJ) of improperly withholding some Epstein-related records and impeding investigative efforts. Those claims represent the conclusions of Democratic committee staff, rather than findings by the full House Judiciary Committee or a court.
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White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Newsweek in an emailed statement: “None of these allegations are true.”
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“This ‘report’ is nothing more than a desperate attempt by crazed Democrats to distract Americans from the surging Republican momentum driven by President Trump’s historic achievements,” Bis said. “The President kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because he was a creep, and he has been fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein.”
Epstein was a convicted sex offender who was later federally charged with sex trafficking minors. A July 2025 DOJ and FBI memo said the agencies’ review confirmed that Epstein harmed more than 1,000 victims.
Epstein died in federal custody in New York on August 10, 2019. Federal authorities and New York City’s medical examiner concluded that he died by suicide.
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The same DOJ-FBI review said investigators found no incriminating Epstein “client list,” no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent people and no evidence uncovered in the review that could predicate an investigation of uncharged third parties.
Trump’s past association with Epstein has been documented, although the relationship alone is not evidence that Trump participated in Epstein’s crimes.
Records released by the DOJ included an email from an assistant U.S. attorney stating that flight records showed Trump aboard Epstein’s private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 1996.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of sex-trafficking-related offenses connected to Epstein, was listed on at least four of those flights, according to the email.
Trump said he eventually ended his relationship with Epstein and barred him from Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The new Democratic report argues that recently released records and accounts from women justify looking beyond the already-established social relationship between the two men and examining whether Trump committed wrongdoing.
Accounts From Women
The report focuses heavily on accounts from 11 women whom Democratic staff said connect Trump to Epstein’s circle in different ways. Not all 11 accuse Trump of committing a crime, and the evidence underlying the individual accounts varies.
Among them is Beatrice Keul, who told committee staff that she encountered Trump and Epstein while attending a Trump pageant in 1993.
According to the Democratic report, Keul alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her after she was brought to a suite at the Plaza Hotel. The allegation has not been adjudicated, and the White House has denied the accusations in the report.
The report also recounts an allegation by Stacey Williams, who has said she dated Epstein in the early 1990s. Williams alleges that Epstein took her to Trump Tower, where Trump groped her while Epstein was present. Trump has denied her allegation.
Another account involves Jill Harth, who accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact in a 1997 lawsuit. The Democratic report cites Harth’s allegations as part of its argument about Trump’s relationship with Epstein. Her allegations did not result in a finding that Trump committed the alleged acts.
The report also discusses women identified by pseudonyms and cites records that Democrats said describe efforts by Epstein or Maxwell to introduce women to Trump. An introduction or encounter, however, does not establish that Trump participated in trafficking or other criminal conduct.
Maria Farmer, an Epstein survivor who reported Epstein and Maxwell to the FBI in the 1990s, is also discussed in the report. According to the report, Farmer described encountering Trump at Epstein’s New York office and said Epstein intervened as Trump approached her. Farmer does not accuse Trump of sexually assaulting her in that encounter.
The distinctions between these accounts are significant. Some women directly accuse Trump of misconduct, while others describe encounters, introductions or circumstances that Democratic investigators argued deserve further scrutiny. The report's conclusions are allegations and investigative arguments, not court findings.
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DOJ Cover-Up Alleged
The second major component of the Democratic report concerns the DOJ's handling of records and investigations connected to Epstein.
Committee Democrats accused the department of improperly withholding records and impeding some investigative efforts related to Epstein and potential associates. The report argued that those actions warrant investigation, but its characterization of them as a “cover-up” is an allegation by Democratic staff, not an established judicial finding.
The report also scrutinizes U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche’s questioning of Maxwell in federal custody. Democratic staff said that Blanche appeared on several occasions to steer Maxwell away from discussing a particular Epstein survivor and argued that the conduct could raise questions under the federal obstruction statute. No court has found that Blanche committed obstruction.
The allegations come against the backdrop of the DOJ-FBI July 2025 review. The agencies said at the time that their examination uncovered no evidence that could predicate investigations of uncharged third parties and concluded that no further disclosure was warranted.
House Judiciary Democrats argued that subsequently released records and the accounts assembled in their report undermined that assessment and justify additional investigation. They are calling for an independent special counsel to investigate Trump's connections to Epstein and the government's handling of related evidence.
The White House has rejected that characterization, arguing that the administration has acted to release Epstein-related material and disputing the report's accusations against Trump.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn
here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Hollie Silverman and Dave Siminoff.
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