Senators advanced a measure to require Attorney General Pam Bondi to preserve all records related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, attaching the language to a must-pass bill to fund the Justice Department.
The Senate Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to its Commerce-Justice-Science funding bill, that would require officials to maintain records related to the wealthy, well-connected sex offender who died in his jail cell in 2019.
The amendment would also require officials to send Congress a report “on the history of the Jeffrey Epstein case” within 60 days of enactment of the measure.
Members adopted the amendment, offered by Sen.
The provision calls for Bondi to keep all records “related to any investigation, prosecution, services provided to victims, or incarceration of Jeffrey Epstein.” It also calls for the report to detail Epstein’s “financial ties, clients, and connections” to the US government.
The underlying bill stalled Thursday amid a dispute over the location of the FBI headquarters — unrelated to the Epstein measure, which the panel adopted in a quick, bipartisan moment without any debate.
Senators said they aim to resolve those disagreements and finish work on a bill that can garner 60 votes to end debate on the Senate floor.
Epstein’s connections to powerful figures before his death, ruled a suicide, have fueled speculation about any remaining information about his clients, including among Trump’s base of political supporters.
Bondi said in February she had a “client list” on her desk that she would release publicly. But a July memo by the FBI said an internal review “revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’” and offered “no credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed prominent people.
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