Congressional Democrats have been focusing quite a bit on Donald Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in recent weeks, though party leaders and officials are still coming up with new angles to the controversy. In fact, this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted a national security element that I hadn’t heard before.
“Whatever may be in the Epstein files is clearly troubling enough that Donald Trump doesn’t want to touch this issue with a 10-foot pole,” the New York Democrat said. “So it’s natural to ask: What happens if America’s adversaries use cyberattacks or other means to access investigative materials into Jeffrey Epstein that are embarrassing — or worse — for President Trump and the people around him? What happens if Epstein materials end up in the hands of the Chinese government, or Russia, or North Korea?”
Schumer, while calling on the FBI to immediately conduct a counterintelligence threat assessment, concluded: “Unless the Epstein files are released, and made fully transparent to the public, could our adversaries use that information to blackmail someone like the president? Or other senior leaders in government? What kind of risk could that pose to our national security?”
This was a fresh approach to an existing story, though it’s likely the FBI won’t be overly eager to respond to the senator’s appeal. That said, as NBC News reported, the Democratic leader also had a related idea that’s intended to force the issue.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is leading all seven senators on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in invoking a rarely used law to request files in the Jeffrey Epstein case and have them delivered to the committee next month. In a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the group says it is requesting the files under the law, which says an ‘Executive agency, on request of … the Committee on [Homeland Security and] Governmental Affairs of the Senate, or any five members thereof, shall submit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.’
As Capitol Hill watchers know, members of the minority party have very limited power and cannot issue subpoenas. But as The New York Times reported, there is a rather obscure policy known as the “rule of five” that says federal agencies are required to provide relevant information if any five members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee request it.
“That provision — which became law in 1928 and sets a seven-member rule for the House’s oversight committee — effectively offers a way for members of the minority party to compel information from the executive branch because they cannot issue congressional subpoenas,” the Times report added. “But it has been infrequently used, and it has not faced significant tests in court, raising questions over whether it can be enforced.”
NBC News similarly added, “It’s not clear what enforcement mechanism Democrats would use if the Trump administration refuses to comply.” In other words, Senate Democrats appear to be properly applying the law in order to force transparency on the Epstein files, but if the Trump administration ignores the effort — which appears quite likely — it’s not altogether clear what recourse would be available. It’s not as if they could refer the matter to the Justice Department for further review. Nevertheless, the Senate Democrats’ letter concluded: “Please provide these documents and information as soon as possible, but no later than August 15, 2025. Additionally, please arrange to provide a briefing to Committee staff as soon as possible, but no later than August 29, 2025.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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