Democrats are calling for an independent investigation into the ties between President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, who were known friends in the 1990s in South Florida before falling out.
The lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee made the recommendation in a 53-page report, released Monday, that ties together previously public documents of Trump and Epstein's relationship and includes a new allegation that Trump raped a beauty pageant contestant in 1993.
Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the Democrats said the Department of Justice should appoint a special counsel because the Justice Department and the FBI have been covering for the president and are too conflicted to investigate Trump or Epstein associates.
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Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this image from the Justice Department’s file of Epstein, released Dec. 18 by the House Oversight Committee Democrats.
Empowering a special counsel would put significant heft behind Epstein survivors' attempts at justice. Under the law, a special counsel has the same powers to investigate and bring charges as other federal prosecutors and is not subject to day-to-day supervision of the attorney general.
Katie Kenlein, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said the report "is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by House Judiciary Democrats to mislead the public" and said the department complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The report comes days before voters head to the polls to decide who will control Congress, and as Democratic candidates on the campaign trail have been attacking Republican candidates who voted against the release of the Epstein files or took money from Epstein's associates.
Epstein's survivors have also been traversing the country on a bus tour, displaying a graphic timeline, more than 6-foot-tall, of the two men's relationship, including the history of sexual misconduct allegations women have made against each of them.
Epstein registered as a sex offender in the 2000s after pleading guilty to minor charges and was charged with sex trafficking in 2019. He died in jail before being tried on those charges. Trump has never been criminally charged with a sex crime. He was found liable for the sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll in a civil trial in New York City, a case unrelated to Epstein.
“None of these allegations are true," White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement. "This ‘report’ is nothing more than a desperate attempt by crazed Democrats to distract Americans from the surging Republican momentum driven by President Trump’s historic achievements."
President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd Tuesday at his midterm election rally at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.
What the new report reveals
The Democrats' report, which is not endorsed by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, is the most comprehensive document to date that describes the relationship between Trump and Epstein and goes beyond their well-known social ties.
Five women, the report says, "directly accused Trump of raping or sexually assaulting them in Epstein's company or direct physical presence." One of those is Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland who told the committee that Trump violently raped her, the report says.
The alleged incident took place in 1993 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, when Keul was 24 years old, according to the report. Trump owned the Plaza Hotel in 1993 and was 47. Epstein attended Trump's wedding that same year.
Trump approached Keul at a press luncheon and spoke with her for more than 15 minutes, during which he told Keul he could arrange a visa for her, get her into New York University and arrange her travel, according to the report, which says the committee's staff interviewed Keul.
When they finished talking, the report says, Epstein approached Keul and said, "I'm Jeffrey, Don's best friend." Epstein then "spent at least 10 minutes talking to Keul, all the time looking over and grinning at Trump" on the other side of the room.
The report says Trump invited Keul upstairs at the Plaza Hotel, where he "grabbed Keul from behind and forcibly raped her; in the process tearing her dress and causing bleeding and bruising on multiple parts of her body."
Bis, the White House spokesperson, also said in her statement: "The President kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because he was a creep, and he has been fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein."
The DOJ made public about 3.5 million files in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed and Trump signed, but withheld about 40% of what the government has in its possession.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks at an Oct. 21 news conference at the FBI Cincinnati Field Office.
Why Democrats want a special counsel
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee argue in their report that the DOJ and FBI have protected Trump and stonewalled attempts to investigate Epstein's associates.
"There is more than enough evidence that many individuals other than Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell may have committed a crime," the report says. "This includes Donald Trump."
Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein who women said participated in their abuse, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking, among other convictions. She met with now-Attorney General Todd Blanche shortly before the federal government moved her to a minimum-security prison.
The report says the DOJ "actively obstructed the Epstein investigation into any co-conspirators, attempted to prevent the release of the Epstein files, and then released an incomplete and heavily redacted set to the public —all while withholding key information about Trump in the process."
It also cites DOJ policy that prohibits prosecuting a sitting president, and federal law requiring the department to appoint an independent special counsel if performing the investigation itself "would present a conflict of interest for the department or other extraordinary circumstances."
Under federal law, the attorney general can appoint a special counsel and decide the person's jurisdiction. The law gives the special counsel the same prosecutorial power as a U.S. attorney, but the attorney general retains some disciplinary power.
"While we cannot talk about the existence of any ongoing investigations,” Kenlein said, “the Trump administration is the only administration to prosecute Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and make any of these documents available to the public, including the (House Judiciary) Committee."
The House Oversight Committee, led by Republicans, also is investigating Epstein's network.
