Garcia leads Democrats’ strategy on Epstein probe, to GOP’s dismay

WASHINGTON- Rep. Robert Garcia and his team faced a monumental task on Nov. 5: sifting through more than 20,000 documents obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein in search of something that would shed more light on President Trump’s relationship with the now-deceased convicted sex offender.

After six tedious days of going through the files, Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and four staffers identified three emails that would spark a political firestorm.

In the emails, Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours” at the late financier’s house with one of his victims and that he “knew about the girls,” suggesting the president knew more about Epstein’s abuse than he had previously admitted. The estate released the emails to the committee after receiving a subpoena.

“We thought [the emails] really raised questions about the relationship between the president and Jeffrey Epstein,” Garcia said in an interview last week. “We knew we had to remove them as soon as possible.”

Garcia’s plan to release the emails quickly thrust the second-term Democrat into the national spotlight, elevating his profile as Trump’s primary antagonist on an issue that has haunted the president since his first term. It also increased pressure on the White House to release its investigative files on Epstein.

Claims in Epstein’s emails regarding Trump’s involvement or knowledge of Epstein’s illicit acts have not been corroborated, and the White House has denied the veracity of these accounts.

The White House accused Democrats of “selectively” leaking emails to create a “false narrative to defame President Trump,” adding that Democrats redacted the name of one of the victims, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April and who previously said she did not see Trump participate in Epstein’s abuse.

The Nov. 12 email revelations prompted Republican members of the committee to release the full documents hours later. At the same time, Democrats — joined by a handful of Republicans — were poised to force a vote in the House to force the Justice Department to release its Epstein files. Days later, Trump urged Republican lawmakers to support the bill he had long resisted, and he ultimately signed it.

“If we hadn’t released the initial emails, the Republicans probably wouldn’t have released anything,” Garcia said. “They never release anything until we push them and apply public pressure.”

Garcia said Democrats were prepared to release the full package themselves — but gradually over the course of the week, arguing that such release should be done carefully to protect victims’ privacy.

Republicans on the commission have criticized the minority party’s approach, arguing that it focuses on sensationalizing information selected to harm Trump and politicizing the Epstein investigation.

“The most dangerous place in Washington is between Robert Garcia and a cable news camera,” said Republican strategist Matthew Gorman. “It’s simply a ploy to draw more attention to himself, and he’s using this issue to do it.”

“Sometimes you have to fight back harder”

Garcia’s allies see the 47-year-old’s rise as both predictable and reflective of his past.

Born in Peru, Garcia immigrated to the United States as a young child and became a citizen in his early 20s. He went on to become Long Beach’s first Latino and first openly gay mayor before arriving in Washington — where he is now one of the youngest people ever to serve as a ranking member of the House’s top investigative committee.

Five months into office, Garcia says he remains in disbelief at the prospect of taking the position held by people like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Mary.), whom he considers one of his “heroes.”

“Being in a place where I’m doing the job that was when I came to Congress a few years ago is not something I expected,” Garcia said. “I want to contribute as best I can, address this corruption, address what’s happening in the Jeffrey Epstein case and hold the administration accountable.”

The Oversight Committee is one of the most high-profile committees in the House, and its chairman, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, has broad subpoena power. Comer, a staunch Trump ally, led a review of the government investigation into Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comer subpoenaed both Epstein’s estate and the Justice Department.

Comer declined to be interviewed for this article, as did other House Republicans. But Comer told Politico last week that he was “done with Garcia” and that the Democrat had “cut ties with it.”

“He just needs to do some TikTok videos or something. … He’s not a serious investigator. He’s like a TikTok video type guy,” Comer said.

Garcia responded to Comer’s comments by referencing the movie “Mean Girls.”

“Why is he so obsessed with me?” he said in an Instagram post Wednesday — an example of how Garcia often uses pop culture to communicate with a more general audience.

Garcia says his tactics are driven by an allergy to bullies.

“I grew up as an immigrant child. … I know what it’s like to be on the other side of the bully,” he said. “If the bully wants to hit you or harm you or other people you care about, you have to fight back. Sometimes you have to fight back harder.”

Democrats credit Garcia with pushing Comer to act. In July, a Republican-led subcommittee passed a Democratic-led motion to subpoena the Epstein documents from the Justice Department — a move that ultimately prompted Comer to issue his subpoenas.

Rep. Robert Garcia speaks at an inauguration ceremony in Long Beach in August to commemorate his new role as a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.

(Jonathan Alcorn / For Time)

Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, said the vote “started to topple the dominoes,” ultimately leading the public to see a copy of Epstein’s “50th anniversary book,” which includes Trump’s name, as well as the three emails linking Trump to Epstein.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), a member of the Oversight Committee, praised Garcia for gaining bipartisan support to secure the documents and make them public. Khanna, who led the campaign to force a vote in the House to demand that the Justice Department release Epstein’s files, also co-wrote a letter with Garcia to Epstein’s estate requesting an unredacted copy of the anniversary book.

The estate’s lawyers said they would cooperate, but they requested a subpoena to release documents due to confidentiality concerns. Khanna said he believes the letter sparked the push that ultimately led Comer to subpoena the estate.

“I think the way he worked with Comer to make sure that a lot of the investigation was bipartisan was effective,” Khanna said in an interview.

A “dynamic” approach to surveillance

Garcia — who is known for using social media and pop culture to amplify his message — has incorporated these communications tactics into his role on the oversight committee.

The day the emails were released, Garcia promoted them in social media posts and videos and gave several interviews. The congressman — a self-proclaimed Bravo fan — is set to appear this week on the cable channel’s “What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) told the Times that Garcia’s “dynamic” leadership approach creates new ways to communicate to a younger generation about the work Congress is doing.

“He seems to thrive on it, and it’s a joy to see,” the former speaker said. “He is young, but he has made the members and the public understand what the challenge is. »

Rep. Robert Garcia speaks with Mayor Karen Bass during a congressional hearing at the Metropolitan Water District on Monday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Republicans on the committee accused Garcia and Democrats of intentionally using the Epstein investigation to generate a false narrative against Trump — a criticism Democrats see as Garcia’s desire to “fight fire with fire.”

Sen. Adam Schiff, who served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Garcia’s efforts to seek documents “outside traditional channels,” including the Epstein estate, helped drive a “public narrative that broke through.”

“Under such a lawless and corrupt administration, we need talented and creative leaders to do oversight work, expose malfeasance to the public and break through in a fractured media environment, and Congressman Garcia has proven himself an expert in all three areas,” Schiff said.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration appointee, said Garcia’s strategy could backfire if or when all information about the Epstein investigation is made public.

“I think they’ve created a Pandora’s box of a whole bunch of conspiracy theories and fake memes and information that the left fully buys into that may not be real,” he said.

With more files on the Epstein estate expected to be revealed in the coming weeks, Garcia says he is committed to exposing wrongdoing by anyone, regardless of party. The documents have already shown Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats.

The documents also showed ties to big banks, a thread that Garcia said could be key to understanding Epstein’s plea deal negotiated by a prosecutor who served in Trump’s Cabinet during his first term.

“I don’t want to protect anyone,” he said. “I’m interested in justice for survivors.”