Dems Invoke Law to Secure Epstein Files From DOJ

Desperate times may call for desperate measures—but they also call for creative ones.

Under a section of federal law commonly referred to in the Senate as the “rule of five,” executive agencies are required to provide information if any five members of the committee request it. I Photo: Geoff Livingston Flickr

Faced with a criminal president and a GOP congressional majority wholly devoted to shutting down any and all transparency and accountability for him, Democrats will need to get resourceful in their efforts to break through that wall.

The tentative good news, Greg Sargent wrote in an opinion piece for The New Republic, is that they actually have tools to do just that.

That’s why it’s worth paying attention to the news that Senate Democrats are now invoking an obscure, rarely used law in an effort to force transparency on the so-called Epstein files.

According to The New York Times, seven Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding the release of information related to the 2019 arrest of Jeffrey Epstein on sex-trafficking charges.

Under a section of federal law commonly referred to in the Senate as the “rule of five,” executive agencies are required to provide information if any five members of the committee request it.

The letter demands the release of “all documents, files, evidence, or other materials in the possession of DOJ or FBI related to” Epstein’s prosecution, including “audio and video recordings” and much more.

This is a good move. The law in question states that if “any five members” of the committee request “any information” related to a matter within its jurisdiction, the relevant agency “shall” submit it. A companion provision exists for the House.

A historical parallel is worth noting. The 1928 law was passed in the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal, according to David Vladeck, a professor of government at Georgetown.

That scandal—where a corrupt Cabinet member under President Warren Harding accepted bribes in exchange for oil leases—led to greater public awareness of government corruption and the need for stronger congressional oversight.