The Republican responsible for Jeffrey Epstein’s most damaging revelations

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has lashed out at the four Republicans who forced the House of Representatives to vote on the Epstein files, even calling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) a “traitor” for her troubles.

But there is one Republican who has done more than any other to expose damaging new Jeffrey Epstein material: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

It was Comer who obtained the “birthday book” made for Epstein in 2003 that contained a lurid tribute apparently from Trump, in addition to the thousands of documents published this monthincluding Epstein’s email that said Trump “knew about the girls.”

The latest document dump came shortly before Congress passed legislation to force the release of Epstein’s complete files from the Justice Department. Trump’s approval rating has fallen to lowest level of his second term, partly as a result of the Epstein fallout.

As Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) put it: “James Comer has been doing extraordinary work for Democrats.”

It could create a second round of Republican complaints about Comer, a strong Trump ally who received some blame within the party when House Republicans’ various efforts to investigate and impeach President Joe Biden mostly failed or blew up in their faces. Back then, Comer promised too much than his evidence showed, especially a Ukrainian bribe that turned out to have been completely fabricated. But if Comer has done anything wrong this time, it’s that he’s been too willing to unearth the truth.

“Because I, like my Republican colleagues on the House Oversight Committee, want to know what really happened, what happened, who was involved in these heinous crimes,” Comer said last week in a speech on the House floor, referring to his decision to subpoena Epstein’s heirs. “We want justice for the survivors. That’s why we’re doing this investigation.”

Comer has gone beyond the subpoena that a bipartisan vote on his committee over the summer forced him to send to the Justice Department. On his own initiative, he sent a completely separate subpoena to the estate of the deceased sexual predator, which had the birthday book and a cache of emails.

It’s hard to imagine a more embarrassing document than the birthday card sent to Epstein in 2003, bearing Trump’s signature and saying “we have certain things in common” and “every day may be another wonderful secret.” Trump had denied writing the message (His lawyers even claimed in court that it had been “made up” by The Wall Street Journal) and Comer’s revelation proved it was real.

Trump allies touted the Epstein files as the key to unraveling the kind of elite pedophile ring that right-wing conspiracy theorists have raved about for years. As of this month, all but one Republican in Congress officially supports releasing the files. But Comer has gone a long way ahead of them.

AP Photo/José Luis Magaña

Republicans have high hopes for revelations from the Justice Department’s investigative files on Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.

In February, Comer formed a Surveillance Committee”Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets,” chaired by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), dedicated to revealing government assets on the JFK assassination, UFOs, and the Epstein files.

That month, the Justice Department handed out folders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a group of right-wing influencers gathered at the White House. The trick failed; The folders contained no new information, and some MAGA commenters said everything it seemed unprofessional. moon called him a “complete disappointment”.

In May Moon demanded Justice Department releases its Epstein documents: “We work alongside the Justice Department, not for it. Prosecutor Bondi should stop stonewalling and communicate with us.”

When the Trump administration announced in July that he would not release any new information and that there was no “client list” for Epstein, contrary to previous statements made by Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, the reaction from MAGA-aligned media figures was intense. Democrats seized the moment by pushing for a vote on the Justice Department subpoena during a subcommittee meeting that month. Comer obediently sent the subpoena weeks later.

Republican leaders pointed to the Justice Department’s cooperation with the subpoena as a reason not to vote on separate Epstein legislation, but its rejection only appeared to harden the resolve of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ga.), Greene and the two other Republicans who put their names on a “discharge petition” that forced the House to vote this month.

Privately, some Republicans are apparently unhappy with Comer’s role in the Epstein saga.

“No one has betrayed and fractured MAGA more than Speaker Comer and Rep. Luna,” a senior House aide told News themezone. “His ‘investigation’ into Epstein created virtually every major headache for House Republicans in this Congress.”

Comer declined to comment for this article. A Luna spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Oversight Committee has released 33,000 pages of records from its Justice Department subpoena, although much of it was already public. Massie has said he does not trust the material coming through the committee, pointing to redactions in the first batch that protected people who were not victims of sex trafficking.

Heather Diehl via Getty Images

After the Wall Street Journal reported on the existence of Epstein’s birthday book in JulyRepresentatives Robert García (D-Calif.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), members of the Oversight Committee, sent a letter asking Epstein’s heirs for a copy of the book. An attorney for the estate said the estate could only provide it in response to a subpoena.

In September, Comer shot a summons not just for the book, but for a wide range of documents, emails and bank account statements. The committee soon obtained and uploaded another 30,000 pages of documents to its website. Crucially, the Justice Department has had no ability to leak the material.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), another member of the Oversight Committee, said Republicans had little choice but to seize whatever was in the estate’s possession. He called it an easy lift.

“I think we would have legitimately been criticized if we had knowledge and we didn’t get it,” Sessions told News themezone. “It became what I would say material for the case. It became material. And, you know, unfortunately or whatever happened, it became a treasure trove of opportunities for people.”

Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, offered grudging respect to Comer and took some credit for his actions regarding Epstein.

“I think when James Comer and Republicans are pressured to do the right thing, sometimes they will do the right thing. And I respect that and I want to partner in those spaces,” Garcia said. “But when they decide to deny, divert or slow down the process, we will report it.”

The committee is still sending out new subpoenas, asking the Treasury Department to turn over any “suspicious activity reports” that flag Epstein’s money transfers, and this month demanded Epstein’s banking records from JPMorganChase and Deutsche Bank.

For Republicans, there is a silver lining: Epstein’s documents contain many embarrassing references to high-profile Democrats.

“There was nothing new about the president’s previous relationship with Epstein and certainly nothing scandalous,” Comer said in his speech last week. “But we discovered that two sitting Democratic members of Congress had communications with Epstein.”

The new documents revealed that Del. Stacey Plaskett (D.V.I.) had been texting Epstein during a committee hearing in 2019, and that Democratic fundraisers had solicited campaign contributions from Epstein on behalf of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.N.Y.).

Trump, for his part, aggressively lobbied against the bill to release the Justice Department’s Epstein files, only to change his position last weekend when it became clear that the bill would pass the House despite his objections. Now that it has signed it into law, it is up to the Justice Department to create a searchable Epstein database by mid-December.

The White House claims Trump has been on the right side of the Epstein matter all along.

“President Trump has been consistently calling for transparency regarding Epstein’s files: by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and recently President Trump calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democratic friends, the Trump administration has done more for victims than Democrats,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email.

“The only people who have behaved cynically are the Democrats and the media,” Jackson said.