51st Response from United States Congress Regarding Marller Gets a Spinoff: The Return of Jeffrey Epstein

Dear Mr Neece,

Thank you for contacting my office with your views and messages. I appreciate the opportunity to engage with you on this important issue of the Epstein files and to respond to your message. 

On such an item, my position has remained consistently firm: we need transparency.  

While we balance this need for the truth to bring the details of Jeffrey Epstein and his network’s crimes to light, we must be careful in our disclosures so that we may protect the identities of the survivors. To share their names, albeit in the pursuit of justice, would further their lived trauma and leave them exposed to the public eye. Transparency, as necessary as it may be, must never come at the cost of causing further damage to those most affected. 

For too long, the details surrounding the illegal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators have been left opaque despite the many statements and plans expressed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). To push for the promised change, I, along with an overwhelming majority of my peers, voted in favor of H.R.4405-Epstein Files Transparency Act. This bill, which has now been signed into law, requires the DOJ to publish (in a searchable and downloadable format) all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the DOJ's possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein. Additionally, the text specifies that the DOJ is permitted to withhold certain information, such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation. 

The DOJ has been unable to meet the stipulated deadline for disclosure, dated Dec. 19, 2025, leaving the contended documents in limbo. Most recently, as of January 30, 2026, the DOJ has released an additional 3 million items, in compliance with H.R.4405. To resolve the lateness on account of the DOJ, our courts and Congress have been working ardently to legally release more materials.  

Although much more still needs to be done to resolve the matter, I am proud of the work done by the Oversight Committee that has released thousands of documents to the public already. 

The release of the Epstein files and their contents, sensitive to names, must become known to the public, so that the perpetrators of such horrific abuses can be held accountable and their victims be given due justice and privacy.   

I thank you for your engagement with my office and I hope that I have been able to provide you with clarity on my official position. It is an honor to serve the Second District. 

Sincerely,

Rep. Don Bacon

Member of Congress