The fallout from the administration’s botched release of the Epstein files is sure to follow Donald Trump into 2026. After blowing past a Dec. 19 deadline to make public all the documents related to the government’s case against Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports, the Justice Department is now reviewing more than five million additional pages linked to the late convicted sex offender.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, a top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sat down with “The Weeknight” on Tuesday to discuss what actions his party plans to take to hold the administration accountable in the new year and explained why he believes Republicans may join Democrats in that effort.
“Let’s be really clear what the DOJ is doing right now — besides being completely illegal and defying Congress — is completely disrespectful to the survivors,” Garcia told MS NOW. “I mean, they’re not redacting all the survivors’ names. They’re openly redacting other information.”
“This idea that they somehow found a million documents is, it’s crazy, and everyone should be just completely beside themselves on that issue alone,” he continued. “How do you find a million pages of documents on the Epstein files, the single largest, probably highest profile, investigation happening right now in Congress?”
Garcia said the administration’s failure to follow the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed with bipartisan support, has caused a “shift” among Republicans in Congress. “I think that people in the Republican conference see that Donald Trump is weakened,” he said.
“They see that he’s clearly hiding something. I’m not sure how any American, regardless of party, and that includes those in Congress, can look at the actions of the president, look at the actions of the DOJ, and not make the clear assumption, or just the clear fact that’s being laid out for us, that there is a massive cover-up going on.”
Although some Republicans have shared their dissatisfaction with the administration, the California Democrat said his colleagues would be put to the test when lawmakers return in the new year.
“When we get back to Congress here in this next week, we’re going to find out really quick if Republicans are serious about actually putting away and taking on pedophiles and some of the worst people and traffickers in modern history, or if they’re going to bend the knee to Donald Trump,” he told MS NOW.
Without Republican cooperation, Garcia said, there are limited actions Democrats can take as the minority party to hold the White House accountable. “We also have to win if we want the full subpoena power and the ability to get all the documents, get the full truth, have all the interviews we want, and get all the files to the public,” he explained.
Garcia said it will be important to Democrats to win “big elections so that we can actually hold the DOJ fully responsible and accountable.”
You can watch Garcia’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”