Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, on Thursday demanded that senior members of the Trump administration be interviewed about a recent New York Times report that said they held a series of secret meetings in the Situation Room last year to discuss how to handle the fallout from the Epstein Files.

Garcia called on committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) to set up interviews with Vice President JD Vance, acting-Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other top administration officials who reportedly attended a July 2025 meeting to discuss how to convince the public that the president was innocent in all matters related to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“The New York Times reporting is yet another demonstration that the Trump Administration is strictly opposed to transparency and, instead, has chosen to engage in a coverup of the Epstein files to protect Donald Trump,” Garcia wrote in a letter to Comer. “All of those involved must provide answers to this Committee, and we cannot support the continued withholding of answers about Jeffrey Epstein from the American people.”

According to The New York Times report, Vance led several meetings with senior administration officials to decide how the Justice Department should release the millions of Epstein files. MAGA supporters had, for years, pleaded for the documents to be unsealed to the public.

At one point, Vance reportedly suggested an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s imprisoned co-conspirator and ex-girlfriend, in which she would claim Trump had done nothing wrong.

Those inside the White House reportedly could not agree on how to handle the growing scandal that, despite his best efforts, Trump could not make go away. Fallout from the Epstein Files has continued to be a focus for many Democrats in Congress, who have conducted interviews with high-ranking politicians and notable figures regarding their ties to the president’s longtime friend.

Most recently, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified in front of the House Oversight Committee that he never witnessed or took part in any of Epstein’s criminal conduct. The tech mogul claimed Epstein attempted to blackmail him after learning about his extramarital affair.

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