[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S6541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3849. Mr. SCHUMER proposed an amendment to the bill S. 2296, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; as
follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. _____. EPSTEIN FILES TRANSPARENCY.
(a) Release of Documents Relating to Jeffrey Epstein.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (3), not later than
15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney
General shall make publicly available in a searchable and
downloadable format all unclassified records, documents,
communications, and investigative materials in the possession
of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and each United States Attorney's Office, that
relate to--
(A) Jeffrey Epstein, including all investigations,
prosecutions, or custodial matters;
(B) Ghislaine Maxwell;
(C) any flight logs or travel records, including manifests,
itineraries, pilot records, and customs or immigration
documentation, for any aircraft, vessel, or vehicle owned,
operated, or used by Jeffrey Epstein or any related entity;
(D) any individuals, including government officials, named
or referenced in connection with the criminal activities,
civil settlements, immunity or plea agreements, or
investigatory proceedings of Jeffrey Epstein;
(E) any corporate, nonprofit, academic, or governmental
entities with known or alleged ties to the trafficking or
financial networks of Jeffrey Epstein;
(F) any immunity deals, non-prosecution agreements, plea
bargains, or sealed settlements involving Jeffrey Epstein or
his associates;
(G) any internal Department of Justice communications,
including emails, memoranda, and meeting notes, concerning
decisions to charge, not charge, investigate, or decline to
investigate Jeffrey Epstein or his associates;
(H) any communications, memoranda, directives, logs, or
metadata concerning the destruction, deletion, alteration,
misplacement, or concealment of documents, recordings, or
electronic data related to Jeffrey Epstein, his associates,
his detention and death, or any investigative files; or
(I) any documentation of the detention or death of Jeffrey
Epstein, including incident reports, witness interviews,
medical examiner files, autopsy reports, and written records
detailing the circumstances and cause of death.
(2) Prohibited grounds for withholding.--In carrying out
paragraph (1), the Attorney General may not withhold from
publication, delay the publication of, or redact any record,
document, communication, or investigative material on the
basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political
sensitivity, including to any government official, public
figure, or foreign dignitary.
(3) Permitted withholdings.--
(A) In general.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Attorney General may withhold from publication any record,
document, communication, or investigative material, or redact
any segregable portion of any record, document,
communication, or investigative material, that--
(i) contains personally identifiable information from the
personal or medical file of a victim or child witness,
including information the publication of which would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy;
(ii) depicts or contains child pornography, as defined in
section 2256 of title 18, United States Code;
(iii) would jeopardize an active Federal investigation or
ongoing Federal prosecution, if the withholding or redaction
is narrowly tailored and temporary;
(iv) depicts or contains any image of the death, physical
abuse, or injury of any person; or
(v) contains information that is specifically authorized
under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept
secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy
and is properly classified pursuant to that Executive order.
(B) Redactions.--The Attorney General shall publish in the
Federal Register and submit to Congress a written
justification for each redaction under subparagraph (A).
(C) Declassification to the maximum extent possible.--
(i) In general.--The Attorney General shall declassify, to
the maximum extent possible, any information that the
Attorney General would otherwise withhold or redact as
classified information under this subsection.
(ii) Unclassified summary.--If the Attorney General
determines that information described in clause (i) may not
be declassified and made available in a manner that protects
the national security of the United States, including methods
or sources related to national security, the Attorney General
shall make publicly available an unclassified summary of the
information.
(D) Classification of covered information.--The Attorney
General shall publish in the Federal Register and submit to
Congress each decision made after July 1, 2025, to classify
any information that would otherwise be required to be made
publicly available under paragraph (1), including the date of
classification, the identity of the classifying authority,
and an unclassified summary of the justification for
classification.
(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 15 days after
making publicly available all records, documents,
communications, and investigative materials under subsection
(a)(1), the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report
containing--
(1) a list of each category of records, documents,
communications, and investigative materials made publicly
available or withheld;
(2) a summary of the redactions made, including the legal
basis upon which the redactions were made; and
(3) a list of each government official, public figure, or
foreign dignitary named or referenced in the records,
documents, communications, and investigative materials made
publicly available, without redaction in accordance with
subsection (a)(2).
______