WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, Rep. Jim McGovern (D – 2nd Congressional District) accused the Department of Justice of deliberately releasing personal information about victims in the Jeffrey Epstein files while withholding information about the alleged perpetrators.
Speaking during an exchange on the status of the three million documents that have yet to be released as part of the Epstein investigation, McGovern said survivors had raised concerns about how recent disclosures were handled.
“I want to know whether you heard from Epstein’s victims or survivors about the recent release by DOJ,” McGovern said. “Some believe that DOJ is deliberately releasing personal information about them, while at the same time protecting the men that abused them.”
After another House member noted that the DOJ initially said it was delaying the release of the Epstein files in order to redact the victims’ names, yet ultimately released documents identifying “survivor after survivor after survivor,” McGovern said, “And the interesting thing is that the names that weren’t really released are the perpetrators — are the people who abused these women.”
McGovern contrasted the treatment of victims with what he described as a continued lack of transparency regarding individuals allegedly involved in Epstein’s trafficking network.
“It is time to demand transparency and accountability from anyone who was involved in or who has knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, no matter their political party, up to and including the current president of the United States, who is in these files up to his eyeballs,” McGovern said.
