by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
A Georgia Congressman who voted for legislation last week mandating the release of documents connected with child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein said on Monday that it does not go far enough and that he wants further investigation.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week with votes in favor by all 14 members of Georgia’s Congressional delegation, including Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Tifton.
House Resolution 4405 became law the next day after the Senate passed it and President Donald Trump signed it, and on Monday Scott issued a statement saying the language did not achieve everything he felt was needed.
“I maintain concerns that the Epstein language, as drafted, did not provide enough protections for victims and witnesses,” Scott said. He said he wants the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to continue investigating to uncover “the extent of these crimes and who was involved.”
The law gave the U.S. Department of Justice 30 days to release its records, documents, communications and investigative materials concerning the deceased sex offender Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, in prison for conspiring with him to sexually abuse minors.
The law says the agency cannot withhold information just because it is politically sensitive or causes embarrassment or reputational harm to a government official, public figure or foreign dignitary. But it allows Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold information for a variety of other reasons.
She can deny the release of records that she thinks would jeopardize an active federal investigation or prosecution. She can keep records that are declared a national defense or foreign policy secret by executive order. And she can hold back records that she deems to be a “clearly unwarranted” invasion of privacy when they contain “personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files.”
The American Conservative published a piece last week that suggested Bondi could misuse her discretion with the privacy provision.
“It is not difficult to imagine such unilateral power being abused to protect administration officials from scrutiny,” the story said.
The legislation apparently widened a rift between Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Rome Republican who was once among his biggest supporters.
She announced Friday that she would resign effective Jan. 5, blaming Trump for turning against her, in part, due to her pressure to release the Epstein files.
“Standing up for American women who were raped at 14 years old, trafficked and used by rich, powerful men should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the president of the United States whom I fought for,” Greene said in a video she posted online.
Greene serves on the committee that Scott wants to continue investigating the Epstein case.
Scott did not offer specifics about his concerns with the Act beyond what he said about the protections for victims and witnesses, but his statement suggested that the controversy over the Epstein files is not over.
