Garcia is leading Democrats’ strategy on the Epstein investigation, to the chagrin of the GOP

Washington – Representative Robert Garcia and his team faced an important task on Nov. 5: sifting through more than 20,000 documents obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein in search of anything that might shed more light on President Trump’s relationship with the now-deceased convicted sex offender.

After six grueling days of destroying records, Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and four staff members identified three emails that would go on to fuel political fire.

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

“We thought [the emails] Garcia said in an interview last week that indeed raised questions about the relationship between the president and Jeffrey Epstein. “We knew we had to get rid of it as soon as possible.”

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

Claims in Epstein’s emails about Trump’s involvement or knowledge of Epstein’s illegal activities have not been verified, and the White House has denied the authenticity of the accounts.

The White House accused Democrats of “selectively” leaking the emails to create a “false narrative to discredit President Trump,” adding that Democrats had withheld the name of one of the victims, Virginia Gaffry, who died by suicide in April and had previously said she did not witness abuse at Trump’s home.

The Nov. 12 email leak prompted Republicans on the committee to release the entire trove of records just hours later. Meanwhile, Democrats — joined by a handful of Republicans — have pushed the House to vote to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. A few days later, Trump urged GOP lawmakers to support the legislation he had long resisted, and finally signed it into law.

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

Garcia said Democrats were willing to release the full set themselves — but increasingly so over the course of the week, arguing that such releases should be done carefully to protect victims’ privacy.

Republicans on the committee have criticized the minority party’s approach, arguing that it is focused on sensitizing select pieces of information to damage Trump and politicize the Epstein investigation.

“The most dangerous place in D.C. is between Robert Garcia and the cable news cameras,” said Republican strategist Matthew Gorman. “It’s simply a ploy for him to draw more attention to himself, and he’s using this issue for that.”

‘Sometimes you gotta hit back hard’

Garcia’s allies see the 47-year-old’s rise as both predictable and a reflection 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 later became Long Beach’s first Latino and first openly gay mayor before arriving in Washington—where he is now one of the youngest to serve as a ranking member of a substantive House investigative panel.

Five months into the role, Garcia says he remains in disbelief that he is in a position held by people like Rep. Jimmy Raskin (D-Md.), whom he considers one of his “heroes.”

“To be in a position where I’m doing the job that he was in when I came to Congress a few years ago is not what I expected,” Garcia said. “I want to give back as much as I can, and stop this corruption, what happened in the Jeffrey Epstein case, and hold the administration accountable.”

The Oversight Committee is one of the House’s most senior panels and its chairman, Republican James Comer of Kentucky, has broad subpoena powers. Comer, a staunch Trump ally, is leading a review of the government’s investigation into Epstein and his longtime partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comer has sued 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 “burned his bridges with this.”

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

Garcia responded to Comer’s comments with a reference to the movie “Girlfriends.”

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

Garcia says his tactics are motivated by an allergy to bullying.

“I grew up as an immigrant child. … I know what it’s like to be on the other side of persecution,” he said. “If a bully hits or hurts you or others you care about, you have to hit back. Sometimes you have to hit hard.”

Democrats credit Garcia with pushing Comer to act. In July, a Republican-led subcommittee approved a Democratic-led motion to release the Justice Department to Epstein’s documents — a move that ultimately prompted Kammer to issue his own subpoena.

Rep. Robert Garcia speaks at a swearing-in ceremony in Long Beach in August to mark his new role as senior member of the House Oversight Committee.

(Jonathan Alcorn/For The Times)

Texas Democrat Rep. Greg Cassar said the vote “started dominoes knocking” that resulted in the public seeing a copy of Epstein’s “50th anniversary book,” which includes Trump’s name, as well as three emails linking Trump to Epstein.

Oversight Committee member Rep. Roe Cana (D-Fremont) praised Garcia for securing bipartisan support for securing documents and making records available to the public. Khanna, who pushed for a vote on the House floor to ask the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, along with Garcia also wrote a letter to Epstein’s estate asking for an unverified copy of the birth certificate.

The estate attorneys said they would cooperate, but this They needed a subpoena Release of material due to privacy concerns. Khanna said he believes the letter created the pressure that ultimately led to Comer’s demand for real estate.

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

A ‘dynamic’ approach to supervision

Garcia — who is known for using social media and pop culture to amplify his message — has brought those communication tactics to his role on the Oversight Committee.

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

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) told the Times that Garcia’s “dynamic” leadership approach is creating new ways to talk to younger generations about the work of Congress.

“He seems to thrive on it, and that’s a joy to watch,” the former speaker said. “He is young, but he has challenged members and the general public.”

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

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Republicans on the committee have accused Garcia and Democrats of deliberately using the Epstein investigation to create a false narrative against Trump — criticism that Democrats see as Garcia wanting to “fight fire with fire.”

Senator Adam Schiff, who served on the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, said that Garcia’s push “outside traditional channels” helped uncover records, including the Epstein estate, “a public story that was lost.”

“Under such a lawless and corrupt administration, we need talented and innovative leaders to act as watchdogs, abuse the public and break through a broken media environment, and Congressman Garcia has proven to be an expert at all three,” Schiff said.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration appointee, said Garcia’s strategy is to respond to all information about the Epstein investigation as it emerges or when it emerges.

“I believe they’ve opened a Pandora’s box of conspiracy theories, fake memes and news that the left is completely disconnected and that may not be true,” he said.

As more records from Epstein’s estate are expected to come to light in the coming weeks, Garcia says he is committed to exposing wrongdoing from anyone, regardless of party. Documents have previously shown Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats.

The records also showed ties to major banks, a wire Garcia says he believes is central to understanding Epstein’s plea deal, which was negotiated by an attorney who served in Trump’s cabinet during his first term.

“I’m not interested in protecting anybody,” he said. “I’m interested in survival justice.”