Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding that the Justice Department explain why certain Epstein-related records that reference President Donald Trump appear to be missing from the department’s public database, after an NPR investigation reported that some FBI interview material and other documents were catalogued but not released.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking answers from the Justice Department over what an NPR investigation described as dozens of pages in the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files that appear to be catalogued but not publicly available.
NPR reported that the missing material includes FBI interviews and notes tied to allegations from a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor decades ago. NPR said the woman told investigators she was about 13 when Epstein introduced her to Trump, and alleged Trump assaulted her. NPR reported the FBI interviewed the woman four times, but that more than 50 pages of interview material and related notes referenced in logs were not available in the public database.
In a statement released after NPR’s reporting, Garcia said Oversight Democrats had reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Justice Department and alleged that FBI interviews connected to the survivor’s accusations were withheld. Garcia said the committee would open a parallel investigation into the Justice Department’s decision not to release the records.
A Justice Department spokesperson, Natalie Baldassarre, reiterated to NPR that documents not published fall into categories the department considers protected, including materials it says are privileged, duplicates, or related to an ongoing federal investigation. NPR also reported that the department said the only reason any file has been temporarily removed is that it was flagged by a victim or their counsel for additional review.
The White House rejected the allegations and criticized Democrats’ handling of the issue. In a statement to NPR, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump has been “totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein,” and argued that by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than prior administrations.
The questions about the database come amid broader scrutiny of the Trump administration’s rollout of Epstein records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In a Jan. 30, 2026, press release, the Justice Department said it had published nearly 3.5 million pages responsive to the law and that any materials not produced fell within specific withholding categories.
Separately, the Associated Press reported in December 2025 that at least 16 files disappeared from a Justice Department webpage for Epstein-related documents less than a day after they were posted, without an explanation at the time, adding to concerns among some lawmakers about transparency in the release process.
