House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer dropped a bombshell Tuesday on the House floor.
Comer revealed that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries solicited donations from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2013, five years after Epstein’s child prostitution conviction.
Comer revealed his discovery during House floor debate on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed 427-1 and directs the Justice Department to release all files related to the Epstein investigation.
“Another email shows Democrat fundraisers invited Epstein to an event or to meet privately with Hakeem Jeffries as part of their 2013 effort to win a majority,” Comer said on the House floor. “So Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein. That’s what we found in the last document batch.”
The soliciting email was sent to Epstein in March 2013 by Dynamic SRG, a Democratic consulting group working for Jeffries.
The message invited Epstein to a fundraising dinner with Jeffries and then-President Barack Obama, and included an offer to meet with Jeffries privately.
“We are thrilled to announce that we are working with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Sometimes referred to as ‘Brooklyn’s Barack,’ he is a staunch supporter of President Obama and a progressive voice for the people of New York City,” the email read.
“Hakeem is committed to electing a Democrat majority in 2014 and is encouraging his friends to participate in the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] fundraising dinner with President Obama this coming Monday night.”
The fundraising firm asked Epstein reach out via email or phone “if you would like to get involved with the dinner, or would like to get an opportunity to get to know Hakeem better.”
“He is an impressive guy and will be a progressive voice in New York politics for years to come,” the email promised.
At the time of the May 2013 email, Epstein had been out of prison for several years after serving a 13-month sentence for procuring a child for prostitution. He had been convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.
By 2013, Epstein was facing multiple lawsuits from women who said they were sex trafficked and abused by him when they were younger than 18.
Jeffries said he has no memory of the email and never met Epstein.
“I’ve never had a conversation with him, never met him, know nothing about him other than the extreme things that he’s been convicted of doing,” Jeffries claimed.
During his floor speech, Comer said Democrats were manufacturing an anti-Trump narrative using Epstein documents while ignoring numerous Democratic connections to the disgraced billioniare.
“Throughout this investigation, Democrats have chosen to manufacture yet another anti-Trump hoax instead of pursuing justice,” Comer said in his remarks. “For example, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who oversaw the 2019 Epstein investigation, stated clearly that the prosecution team found no evidence that President Trump committed wrongdoing. Despite this simple and straightforward fact, Ranking Member Robert Garcia publicly claimed that ‘Barr could not clear Trump of wrongdoing.'”
The revelation comes days after documents showed Del. Stacey Plaskett exchanged text messages with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing with former lawyer Michael Cohen. The texts show Epstein guided Plaskett’s questioning of Cohen during the hearing.
Comer also called on former President Bill Clinton to appear for his deposition, who was subpoenaed in August.
“The Oversight Committee subpoenaed him for testimony in August, yet Democrats have done nothing to help secure his appearance,” Comer said.
The House voted 427-1 Tuesday to pass the bill requiring the Justice Department to release its Epstein files within 30 days. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent Tuesday evening. The legislation now goes to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
Epstein died under mysterious circumstances while in federal custody in August 2019, just before his trial was set to begin over his sex trafficking of minors.