FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday that the law enforcement agency will investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate over its release of the sexually suggestive birthday letter to Epstein bearing President Donald Trump’s signature.
The disclosure came during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, where Democrats repeatedly badgered Patel over his refusal to make public FBI files that would shed light on rich, powerful men believed to have taken part in Epstein’s underage sex trafficking network.
However, things took a turn when Rep. Jared Moskowitz questioned whether Patel was willing to back Trump’s irate denials over the authenticity of that recently released letter — one that features a cryptic message that “enigmas never age” overlaid with the silhouette of a woman.
“Will you be opening up an investigation into the Epstein estate for putting out a fake document with the president’s signature linking him to the world’s largest pedophile ring? Will you be opening that investigation into that?” Moskowitz asked, attempting to corner the FBI director.
“On what basis?” Patel responded.
“On what basis? They literally put out a fake document, according to the president, with a fake signature. It’s a forgery of the president of the United States’ signature! That’s the basis.”
“Sure I’ll do it,” Patel shot back.“Okay, I look forward to that investigation,” Moskowitz said, ending the exchange.
The FBI press office said it did not “have anything to add to the Director’s testimony.”
The birthday letter was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in July. The newspaper described how Epstein’s friends contributed to a leather-bound, celebratory book that his convicted accomplice, the now-imprisoned Ghislaine Maxwell, put together for his 50th birthday. Trump sued the newspaper and its parent company, News Corp, over what his lawyers called “the nonexistent letter” for a whopping $10 billion-plus the next day. Then the Epstein estate released the letter to Congress this month, which prompted another series of denials from the White House.
During the hearing, Patel repeatedly lost his cool when asked why he continues to hold back Epstein investigative files from the American public when he — before taking the job — had asserted during conservative podcast appearances that the FBI director had full control over whether to do so. Patel told the committee that the bureau had already released what it could legally share, with caveats that the law enforcement agency would not violate court orders prohibiting the release of certain documents and would refuse to publish information deemed “not credible.”
However, several Democratic committee members pointed out that federal judges had only blocked the Justice Department’s limited request to release grand jury transcripts — which only make up a small portion of the relevant files currently in the government’s possession.
Rep. Dan Goldman, citing his own experience as a federal prosecutor, corrected Patel and noted that the FBI could choose to release “302s,” the forms that special agents use to memorialize interviews during a criminal investigation.
“We are releasing as much as legally allowed,” Patel asserted while sidestepping a conversation over the specific types of documents that could still be released.
“You are hiding the Epstein files, Mr. Patel. You are part of the coverup,” Goldman said.
Patel had a similarly heated debate with Rep. Eric Swalwell when the Democratic legislator repeatedly asked whether he’d ever told Attorney General Pam Bondi that Trump’s name is in the Epstein files. Patel would only say that he and Bondi “had numerous discussions about the entirety of the Epstein files.” But when Swalwell kept repeating the question, Patel began hurling insults at the congressman.
“We will take your evasiveness as consciousness of guilt,” Swalwell told him.
Nearly all the Republicans on the panel focused instead on applauding Patel’s handling of the FBI since his confirmation in February, crediting him for cracking down on crime nationwide. Wednesday marked Patel’s second day delivering testimony on Capitol Hill, following a similar series of exchanges before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Rep. Thomas P. Tiffany stood out when he, early on in Wednesday’s hearing, addressed the Epstein issue head-on.
“Director, is President Trump implicated in any wrongdoing related to Jeffrey Epstein?” he asked.
“Based on the entirety of the evidence that we have, absolutely not,” Patel said.