House Judiciary Democrats release report on Trump's alleged Epstein ties

What happened

House Judiciary Committee Democrats released a minority staff report of about 50 to 53 pages on Monday. The report calls on the Justice Department to appoint an independent special counsel. It alleges a “growing body of evidence” that President Donald Trump was an “active participant” in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women in the 1990s and cites accounts from 11 women. Five of the women accuse Trump of rape or sexual assault in connection with Epstein, according to the report; others describe Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell offering women to Trump.^{⁠[11, 14, 16]}

The report includes new details from Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland, who told committee staff that Trump raped her in a Plaza Hotel suite in 1993 when she was 24, leaving her bleeding and bruised, and that he then asked her to stay silent while promising help with a visa and college admission. TIME reported it could not independently verify her account. Democrats also accuse the Trump administration and Attorney General Todd Blanche of covering up Epstein-related files and obstructing inquiry into co-conspirators. Rep. Jamie Raskin said survivors deserve to be heard and that DOJ appointees cannot be trusted.^{⁠[7, 11, 14, 16]}

The White House called the report a politically motivated distraction, said Trump has been “fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein,” and restated that he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. A Justice Department spokesperson said the department released nearly 3 million documents as required by law, offered members of Congress unredacted review, and that the claims had been investigated at the time.^{⁠[11, 14]}

Background

Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell is the only person convicted in the United States in the case. A 2025 law required release of related files, in which Trump is mentioned many times. Trump has said he barely knew Epstein, was never on his plane, and cut ties after learning of misconduct; the report says some DOJ files contradict those statements and were redacted. Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer. The release came eight days before the 2026 midterm elections.^{⁠[2, 11, 16]}

How the coverage differs

Left-leaning outlets such as Daily Kos, Raw Story, The New Republic, and The Daily Beast highlighted the volume of new allegations, the Keul rape claim, accusations of a DOJ cover-up, and Democratic calls for a special counsel, often framing the report as exposing ties or hitting Trump with a barrage of claims. Center outlets including TIME, NBC News, The Hill, Forbes, and Mediaite described the report’s contents, noted that many allegations were previously public or uncorroborated, recorded White House and DOJ denials, and pointed to the election timing and Democrats’ plans to investigate if they win Congress. The Washington Examiner, the right-leaning source, stressed that the document was a minority-staff product, quoted Raskin’s cover-up charge, and noted Democratic spending on Epstein-related campaign ads and the proximity of the midterms.^{⁠[1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16]}

What's still unclear

It is not established whether the women’s accounts have been independently corroborated or would support criminal charges. What unredacted Epstein files show about Trump’s statements remains disputed. Whether the Justice Department will name a special counsel is unknown. TIME could not verify Keul’s specific 1993 account. The accuracy of claims that files were improperly redacted or that the administration obstructed investigations is contested by the White House and DOJ.^{⁠[2, 11, 14]}

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