DOJ 'Appears to Be Covering Up' Trump-Epstein Connections, Dems Say in New Report
"Trump’s Justice Department has shut down investigations, deliberately withheld evidence and, through Todd Blanche, prevented Ghislaine Maxwell from discussing a survivor whose account implicated Trump."
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee published a report Monday alleging that the US Justice Department is engaged in a "desperate" attempt to cover up President Donald Trump's connections to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing a growing body of documentary evidence and witness testimony.
The 53-page report, released days before the midterm elections, lays out the accounts of 11 women who have connected Trump to Epstein and the latter's sex-trafficking operations. Five of those women—identified as Beatrice Keul, Stacey Williams, Jill Harth, Katie Johnson, and Jane Doe—"directly accused Trump of raping or sexually assaulting them in Epstein’s company or direct physical presence," according to the new report, which calls for a special counsel investigation into "Epstein's co-conspirators" and the alleged coverup by the DOJ, currently headed by former Trump lawyer Todd Blanche.
“Trump says he knew Jeffrey Epstein ‘just like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.’ Not exactly," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. "Evidence involving 11 women tells a completely different and far more damning story about their relationship and the abuse of young women and girls that took place in their network."
"Five women have directly accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in Epstein’s company or presence; others have indicated that Epstein or Maxwell attempted to traffic them to Trump," Raskin continued. "These women have spoken to investigators and, in some cases, testified under oath, yet Trump’s Justice Department has shut down investigations, deliberately withheld evidence and, through Todd Blanche, prevented Ghislaine Maxwell from discussing a survivor whose account implicated Trump—all while insisting there is no basis upon which to investigate Epstein’s possible accomplices. Trump’s Justice Department appears to be covering up these crimes to protect the president."
The report accuses the Justice Department's leaders—including Blanche and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who oversaw the legally mandated release of some of the Epstein files—of operating "like a private legal defense firm" for the president, who has repeatedly downplayed his past relationship with Epstein and condemned the furor over the files as a "hoax."
Among the allegations featured in Democrats' report is that Trump raped Beatrice Keul in a hotel suite during his American Dream Pageant in 1993. Keul, who was 24 at the time of the alleged assault, told committee staff that Trump promised to arrange a visa for her.
The report continues:
According to Keul, after Trump stepped away from their conversation, Epstein immediately approached her saying '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, who had remained in the room and was watching their conversation from afar. Epstein also made similar promises as Trump and asked Keul to attend a party at Mar-a-Lago in the coming months...
Later that day, Donald Trump’s representative invited Keul to go upstairs at the Plaza Hotel to meet with Trump. Believing this meeting to be a lucky break for the purpose of furthering her career and education, Keul accompanied Trump’s representative upstairs. He ushered her into the suite, where upon entering, Trump reportedly 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.
Two allegations detailed in the House Judiciary Committee report involve allegations that Trump sexually assaulted two 13-year-old girls.
Katie Johnson, a pseudonym, "alleged to the FBI that Trump and Epstein repeatedly raped her at Epstein’s New York residence in 1994, when she was 13," the report states. "She said the men argued over who would take her virginity. Whistleblower information obtained by the committee indicates that documents linked to a case number involving Katie Johnson have been withheld from Congress and the public."
A spokesperson for Trump's White House told MS NOW in response to the report that "none of these allegations are true" and said, falsely, that Trump "has been fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein."
Raskin said Monday that "the women who survived Epstein deserve to be heard, Congress must have the complete files required by law, and an independent special counsel must investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators and DOJ’s coverup and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors have the evidence they need to pursue justice."
In addition to the grave allegations against Trump, the report suggests Blanche potentially engaged in "witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding—serious felonies." The report points to a 2025 conversation between Blanche and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime Epstein companion and co-conspirator.
"The whole point of the conversation was not to uncover information but to create a conspiracy of silence and strategically deter Ghislaine Maxwell from sharing information that was not public at the time regarding the relationship between Trump and Epstein," the report says.
The Democrats' report expresses doubt that the Trump administration will take the "minimal step" of appointing an independent special counsel to investigate matters related to Epstein and the president.
"Accordingly," the report concludes, "Congress must continue to use its legislative and oversight powers to pursue justice for survivors and bring an end to the Trump administration’s shameful, bureaucratic, and political cover-up."
