FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday faced extensive questioning during a roughly five hour House Judiciary Committee hearing, as lawmakers pressed him on his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the release of related documents.
During the hearing, Patel responded to repeated demands for more disclosures by asking, “Do you know how the law works? I’m not going to break the law to satisfy your curiosity.”Ranking Member Jamie Raskin challenged Patel over the FBI’s decision not to disclose the names of Epstein’s alleged co conspirators in the rape and sex trafficking of young women and girls, as reported by ABC News.
Patel defended the agency’s actions, stating, “We have released more material than anyone else before” and emphasising that the FBI has shared “everything the court has allowed us.”
Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in jail in 2019.
The investigation into his associates continued after his death, culminating in the 2020 conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell.
Prosecutors have not publicly named other individuals they suspect of involvement.
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of documents were recently released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
It included public court filings, Maxwell trial transcripts, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, Bureau of Prisons communications on the night of Epstein’s death and other public court papers.
On Tuesday, Committee Chairman James Comer said that the committee received additional documents from the Epstein estate, which are expected to be released soon.
Raskin accused Patel of misdirection, saying the FBI’s releases “have nothing to do with what those courts have,” and criticised Patel for previously suggesting the federal government was shielding information on the Epstein case.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie questioned Patel’s statement that there was no credible evidence Epstein trafficked women to anyone other than himself.
Patel replied that the conclusion came from assessments by three separate US Attorneys across different administrations, not his personal judgment.
