Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, where he was questioned about the lack of transparency regarding records related to Jeffrey Epstein during the period when Democrats held control of the Department of Justice from 2021 to 2025.

During the segment, co-host Joe Scarborough asked Raskin why Democrats had not moved to release files related to Epstein, despite ongoing public concern and multiple calls for transparency.

“Epstein was able to use all of his powerful connections, including who was then his best friend, Donald Trump, in order to suppress a real hearing into what had happened,” Raskin said.

“And look, why is this important? Because the sexual abuse of young people and children is a crisis throughout our society. There is, of course, the church scandal, or many church scandals. There’s what happened at Michigan State. There’s what happened at Ohio State.”

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Scarborough interjected, pointing out that Democrats had four years to act during the Biden-Harris administration.

“But, Congressman, you could have gotten that from ’21 to ’25, when Democrats controlled DOJ. It was a crisis then. It’s a crisis now. Why didn’t Democrats call for it from ’21 to ’25?” Scarborough asked.

Raskin did not offer a definitive explanation. “So, I mean, you’d have to go back and look specifically at particular prosecutorial decisions and what was taking place in terms of the other cases,” he responded.

“So, I don’t know, we could try to reconstruct that record. But the point is, is that Donald Trump is the one who has led the crusade to say that Epstein, who was his very close friend, and there’s all kinds of pictures of them and so, that Epstein was at the center of this broad conspiracy. He is now in a position to do exactly what he had demanded, which was to release all of the files. And so, why is that not happening?”

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Raskin then shifted focus to the current administration, noting that Republicans now have the opportunity to act on the issue.

“That’s the question,” he continued.

“I can’t answer for Merrick Garland or anybody else in the Department of Justice. But I will tell you that there is a bipartisan consensus in the Judiciary Committee now that all of these records need to be released.”

The exchange highlighted growing bipartisan interest in full transparency surrounding Epstein’s connections and case files.

However, Scarborough’s line of questioning underscored a key criticism that continues to follow Democratic officials—why no significant public action was taken on Epstein-related matters when they held authority within the Justice Department during the Biden-Harris administration.

Calls to release Epstein-related documents have intensified in recent months, with lawmakers from both parties voicing support for full disclosure.

While Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 under disputed circumstances, public interest in the case has not subsided, with renewed attention placed on high-profile individuals who may have been connected to him through legal, political, or financial ties.

As of now, there is no public timeline from the Department of Justice regarding the full release of Epstein files.

Raskin’s remarks suggest momentum is building in Congress, but questions remain over why such actions weren’t taken earlier during the years when Democrats had control of federal law enforcement agencies.

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