Democrats are scrambling to weaponize the Jeffrey Epstein scandal against Donald Trump, but their efforts are being undercut by an obvious contradiction: They showed little to no interest in transparency when their own party held the White House.
That disconnect was put on full display during a CNN interview Wednesday when Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) struggled to explain why she didn’t demand the release of Epstein-related files during Joe Biden’s presidency. Jayapal was challenged by CNN’s Pamela Brown, who noted that there’s no clear record of the congresswoman calling for transparency on Epstein until recently.
“If you see such a need to investigate this, why didn’t you raise it during the Biden administration?” Brown asked. “We couldn’t find that you made any public comments about Epstein in previous administrations.”
Jayapal, clearly caught off guard, tried to downplay her party’s inaction and suggested that she simply had other priorities.
“Well, I would have been happy to raise it then as well. Frankly, we were focused on so many different pieces,” she said, before vaguely claiming consistency in calling out both parties. “I have been one of the Democrats that has been consistent on what I call out Republican presidents for and Democratic presidents for… I think transparency is not something that should happen only when you have a Republican president.”
Brown didn’t let the dodge slide. She pressed again: “So then, why didn’t you call for more transparency earlier during the Biden administration? I’m just trying to better understand why you are so intent now on calling for this.”
Jayapal’s response wasn’t exactly a profile in courage.
“Well, I think I gave it the same focus that I’m giving it now,” she claimed, somewhat incredibly. “We haven’t — I think I have released one tweet on this and you wanted to talk about it, so I’m happy to talk about it here, but it certainly hasn’t been the focus.”
Despite claiming consistency, Jayapal admitted the issue never really captured her attention until recently and said her main focus has been elsewhere. “My focus has been on the Big Bad Betrayal bill, and I will continue to focus on that.”
Jayapal eventually admitted that “this information should have been released under the Biden administration,” but by that point, the damage was done. Her meandering, excuse-laden responses laid bare the fundamental problem Democrats face: If transparency truly matters to them, they had every opportunity to act when they held the reins of power — and they didn’t.
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We all know why. They don’t actually want transparency; they want a weapon. Democrats have no real interest in exposing the truth about Epstein because they know what might come out. Bill Clinton’s documented connections to Epstein alone make that obvious. Their ideal scenario is one where the files remain sealed forever, allowing them to selectively exploit the mystery as a political cudgel against President Trump without ever having to confront the ugly truth in their own ranks.
Even CNN wasn’t buying it. Brown pointed to the bipartisan anger over the DOJ’s bizarre claim that there’s no Epstein “client list.”
“There are other Democrats as well calling for this, and Republicans, we should note, including the Speaker of the House,” she said, signaling that the usual spin wasn’t going to cut it.
Jayapal, still trying to change the subject, accused Trump of some sort of cover-up. “I think he’s hiding something, and he’s just pouring fuel on the fire,” she claimed, without offering a shred of evidence.
Then came the quiet part out loud. “Most of us didn’t start calling for some of this until the president started denying that there was anything to release,” she admitted. In other words, this was never about principles. It was always about politics.
Kudos to Pamela Brown for confronting Squad member Pramila Jayapal for her sudden feigned interest in the Epstein files. And a bonus that they used a clip of me calling her out.
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 16, 2025
Related: https://t.co/2HP3C9rW6a pic.twitter.com/rM0XOw57uD
That one sentence sums up the Democrats’ entire posture on the Epstein case: They didn’t care when they could have done something, and they only pretend to care now because it’s convenient. Transparency, for them, is just another talking point.
