Jayapal Says Epstein Files ‘Should Have Been Released’ During Biden Admin, Joins Bipartisan Push for ‘Transparency’

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) joined a growing list of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for the release of the Epstein files — and she didn’t hesitate to call out the Biden administration on the issue.

President Donald Trump’s administration has had an astonishingly tumultuous time in the aftermath of his Department of Justice issuing a memo denying disgraced financier and convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein had maintained a client list to blackmail the rich and powerful men who participated in his sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and underage girls.

The fallout from the Epstein files flop has emboldened Trump’s political opponents and reignited bitter internecine MAGA civil wars — messily playing out on social media and leading to calls for Trump to fire or demand the resignation of Attorney General Pam Bondi and other White House officials.

Trump’s furious demands to change the subject are falling on deaf ears, even among the MAGA faithful, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are calling for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend, to be called to testify. A resolution sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to force a floor vote on the release of the Epstein files is reportedly gaining traction, with all House Democrats expected to vote yes and more Republicans moving towards supporting it.

Jayapal was on Wednesday’s episode of The Situation Room and spoke to anchor Pamela Brown about the latest developments regarding the Epstein files, including Massie and Khanna’s resolution and the overall political implications.

Brown began by asking if Jayapal supported having Maxwell come and publicly testify before Congress.

“Absolutely, Pamela,” answered Jayapal, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee and thus would likely be one of the members questioning Maxwell if she were called. “We think that the files should be released. We should have testimonies from Maxwell. This is something that Trump supporters, for years, called for.”

Jayapal called out the Trump administration’s about-face on the topic:

And now all of a sudden, the Trump DOJ, Trump himself is refusing to provide the kind of transparency that he was calling for before he knew what was in the files. And so that leads to the question of what are they trying to hide?

And I think there should be transparency, regardless of who is implicated. And I think the president’s bait and switch on this has been very telling in terms of why does he not want these files released? Why is it that the public cannot know about the thing that he called for himself, amongst many others?

She continued, saying that the discharge petition filed by Massie and Khanna calling for the release of the Epstein files was “probably the most important thing that we should do right now, and we should look at all the other ways that we can bring about some transparency on this.”

Jayapal was skeptical about trusting a special counsel who would be appointed by Bondi, since she “seems to be involved in the cover-up.”

“So I guess that’s the question,” she added. “How do we get these files released? How do we make sure that the American public sees what is in these files, including that client list that apparently was there and now is no longer there?”

“If you see such a need to investigate this, why didn’t you raise it during the Biden administration?” Brown asked as a follow-up question. “We couldn’t find that you made any public comments about Epstein in previous administrations.”

Jayapal responded that she “would have been happy to raise it then as well,” but “frankly, we were focused on so many different pieces,” and said she felt she had “been consistent” on calling out both Republican and Democratic presidents on other topics.

“I’ve criticized Joe Biden just as I’m criticizing Donald Trump,” said Jayapal. “I think transparency is not something that should happen only when you have a Republican president. It is something that we need for both Democratic and Republican presidents.”

“So then why didn’t you call for more transparency earlier, during the Biden administration?” asked Brown. “I’m just trying to better understand why you are so intent now on calling for this.”

Replied Jayapal:

Well, I think I gave it the same focus that I’m giving it now. We haven’t — you know, I think I’ve released one tweet on this and you wanted to talk about it. So I’m happy to talk about it here, but it certainly hasn’t been the focus. I’m just responding to what I think is a massive switch from the Trump administration around this issue…

But yes, I think that this information should have been released under the Biden administration. It should be released under the Trump administration.

Watch the clip above via CNN.