Kennedy asked Patel about the Epstein files, outlining that the “central question for the American people is this: they know that Epstein trafficked young women for sex to himself… they want to know who, if anyone else, he trafficked these young women to.” The Louisiana Republican called it a “very fair question” that he himself wanted an answer to.
“Who, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these young women to, besides himself?” Kennedy asked.
“Himself,” Patel responded. “There is no credible information — none, if there were I would bring the case yesterday — that he trafficked to other individuals. And the information we have, again, is limited.”
“So the answer is no one?” Kennedy clarified.
“For the information that we have,” Patel responded.
“In the files?” Kennedy asked.
“In the case file,” Patel confirmed.
Kennedy encouraged Patel to release the files, saying “this issue is not going to go away.”
Patel went on to explain that the case file he was referring to was the evidence gathered in the earlier investigation into Epstein that resulted in a nonprosecution agreement in 2008. He said the decision not to fully investigate the allegations against him then “hamstrung future investigations.”
“Now I am not saying that others were not trafficked, that others were not involved. What I am telling you is that based on the information we have — and we have continuously and publicly asked for the public to come forward with more information, if there is, we’ll look at it — but based on credible information, we have released all credible information, and the information that the Department of Justice and the FBI never releases is information on investigations that are not credible.”
He said that “the information we are releasing now is historic and it is also to the maximum capacity that the law allows.”
“I know that’s not going to satisfy many, many, many people, but if they wanted it done right, then the investigation from its origination should have been done right and he should not have been given a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Patel said.
