House Democrats say they will investigate the Justice Department’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein-related records after NPR reported that dozens of pages referenced in federal logs are not available in the department’s public database and include material tied to allegations involving President Donald Trump.
House Democrats say they will open an investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of a public archive of documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, after an NPR review found gaps in records that appear to be catalogued by federal investigators but are not available online.
NPR reported on February 24, 2026, that roughly 53 pages of FBI interview summaries and notes—linked in part to a woman who accused Epstein and also made allegations involving President Donald Trump—appear in serial-number sequences and discovery logs but are missing from the DOJ’s public database.
The Justice Department has disputed that records were deleted. In a statement provided to PEOPLE, a DOJ spokesperson said some material had been “temporarily removed” to apply victim-related redactions and later restored, and said unpublished material falls into categories such as duplicates, privileged information, or records tied to ongoing federal investigations.
The lawmakers’ planned probe adds to broader criticism from Democrats and survivors of Epstein’s abuse, who have said the government has not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bipartisan measure signed into law in November 2025 that required the release of most Epstein-related files with victim-protection redactions. The Washington Post reported that Democrats and survivors renewed calls this week for the release of withheld records and for additional investigations tied to Epstein’s network.
The Justice Department’s online releases have faced scrutiny before. In December 2025, the Associated Press reported that at least 16 files briefly posted to the DOJ webpage later became inaccessible without a public explanation.
House Democrats have not released a detailed timeline for their new investigation, but they say they want answers about how the Epstein archive has been reviewed, redacted and posted—and why documents referenced in official logs have not consistently appeared in the public database.
