Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0697

HR0697 LRB104 21008 MST 34894 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Accountability regarding the crimes of convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged accomplices is a matter of justice for survivors that transcends partisan politics; and

WHEREAS, The bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the release of all records in possession of the Department of Justice, including records of Epstein's correspondence and flight logs; and

WHEREAS, The Act requires the Department of Justice to shield the identities of survivors and also explicitly prohibits documents from being withheld or redacted based on political considerations or to shield the identity of Epstein's companions; and

WHEREAS, Despite this, multiple reports indicate that the Department of Justice illegally redacted and withheld documents related to allegations against President Donald Trump, including more than 50 pages of FBI interviews and notes from conversations with a woman who accused President Trump of abuse when she was a minor; and

WHEREAS, The redacted documents included identifying information and images of approximately 100 of Epstein's estimated 1,000 victims, retraumatizing survivors and subjecting them to public scrutiny and harassment; and

WHEREAS, Documents detailing allegations against President Trump have been removed from the Justice Department's public database after their initial disclosure; and

WHEREAS, This continues President Trump's pattern of deceit and obfuscation related to Epstein; he and Vice President JD Vance denied the existence of a birthday card sent by the President to Epstein before the card became public; and

WHEREAS, The identities of other alleged abusers are also being improperly shielded by President Trump's Justice Department while the identities of survivors have been left unredacted; an email to Epstein stating "Thank you for a fun night…Your littlest girl was a little naughty" was redacted to conceal the identity of the writer; and

WHEREAS, In February 2026, President Trump's Justice Department stated its investigation into the Epstein files was over, that no client list existed, and that no additional charges would be forthcoming; and

WHEREAS, The illegal redactions and the Trump Administration's resistance to transparency, along with the thousands of references to President Trump and other politically connected individuals named in the files, create the appearance of impropriety; and

WHEREAS, During a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Bondi was found to have a "burn book" of details proving that members of Congress have been surveilled by the Justice Department during their legally guaranteed access to the unredacted files under their oversight authority; Representative Jamie Raskin reported that he found one million mentions of President Trump in the files in his review; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call for the release of all files related to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged accomplices with redactions limited solely to shielding the identities of survivors as outlined in the Epstein Transparency Act; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call for the appointment of a special prosecutor independent of the Trump Administration's influence to review prosecution decisions stemming from the Epstein investigation to investigate whether the Trump Administration illegally redacted or withheld documents to shield individuals for political purposes.