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Tag: Epstein

7 lawmakers tapped for panel probing JFK assassination, Epstein, UFOs

Seven House Republicans have been named to a new task force dedicated to weighing the declassification of some of the U.S.’ most infamous “secrets.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., as expected, will lead the explosive panel – formally known as the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. It will operate under the House Oversight Committee and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.

The list, though short, signals House GOP leaders are letting the conference’s conservative wing take the wheel on this investigation.

In addition to Luna, the task force will also include members of the often rebellious House Freedom Caucus such as Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and Eric Burlison, R-Mo.

FBI UNCOVERS THOUSANDS OF UNDISCLOSED RECORDS CONNECTED TO JFK’S ASSASSINATION

Seven House Republicans have been named to a task force on “federal secrets.” (Fox News Digital/Getty/AP)

Also on the panel is Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who has made headlines on several culture war issues over the last year.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who frequently collaborates with Luna on issues relating to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) in Congress, is on the panel as well, as is first-term Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas.

“Bad day to be a classified government secret,” Mace wrote on X.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

Rep. Nancy Mace is part of the new federal secrets task force. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Integrity Project)

Burlison wrote on the site, “A Government cloaked in secrecy has been a tool for control.”

Luna pledged to seek “truth and transparency” in a written statement announcing the task force last week.

She pledged to “give Americans the answers they deserve” on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jeffrey Epstein’s client list, COVID-19, UAPs, and the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Luna said when announcing the list of members, “We have assembled a team of dedicated leaders who have consistently fought for transparency and full disclosure.”

The task force will answer to House Oversight and Accountability committee Chairman James Comer. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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“Our mission is simple: to ensure these documents are released swiftly and in their entirety, giving the American people the truth they deserve,” Luna said.

Comer said of the list, “Ensuring government transparency for the American people is a core mission of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.”

“The Republicans on Rep. Luna’s task force are steadfast champions of transparency, and I am confident they will vigorously pursue and deliver the truth on critical issues,” Comer said.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 18, 2025
Anna Paulina Luna to lead task force on declassification of JFK assassination records, Epstein client list

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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., will lead a new task force focused on the declassification of federal secrets — including records related to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy Jr., Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, and other documents in the public interest, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., appointed Luna to chair the task force, titled the “Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., will lead a new task force focused on the declassification of federal secrets. (Getty Images)

FBI UNCOVERS THOUSANDS OF UNDISCLOSED RECORDS CONNECTED TO JFK’S ASSASSINATION

Luna is expected to focus on examining the declassification of materials in the public interest — including the client list of Jeffrey Epstein, files relating to Sept. 11, 2001, COVID-19 origins, UFOs and more.

Fox News Digital has learned that Comer and Luna are sending letters to necessary agencies to kick off the declassification investigations.

President Donald Trump, left, signed an executive order Feb. 6 aimed at declassifying government documents on the assassinations of President John F. K Kennedy Jr., right, his brother and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. (The Associated Press)

Sources told Fox News Digital that Comer and Luna sent letters to the State Department, Department of Energy and the CIA for documents relating to the origins of COVID-19; the National Security Agency and CIA for records relating to JFK, MLK Jr., and RFK assassinations; the Department of Defense and the CIA for 9/11 files; and to the Justice Department for documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

President Donald Trump on Feb. 6 signed an order to declassify files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. (Getty Images)

The creation of the task force comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the director of National Intelligence and other appropriate officials to present a plan for the full and complete release of all JFK assassination records within 15 days.

He also ordered that officials immediately review the records relating to RFK and MLK Jr.’s assassinations and present a plan for their full and complete release within 45 days.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO DECLASSIFY FILES ON JFK, RFK AND MLK ASSASSINATIONS

“For too long, the federal government has kept information of public interest classified and the American people are demanding greater transparency. This secrecy has sowed distrust in our institutions,” Comer told Fox News Digital, noting that the task force will “build on the Trump Administration’s efforts to declassify records of national importance and ensure Americans get the answers they deserve.”

“Representative Luna is committed to shining a light on the truth and ending the era of secrecy,” Comer said. “It’s time to let the sunlight in and finally provide answers the American public has long demanded.”

The task force will also investigate “UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files.” Here, security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Luna told Fox News Digital that the federal government “has been hiding information from Americans for decades.”

“We have spent years seeking information on the assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, Reverend King, and other government secrets without success,” Luna told Fox News Digital. “It is time to give Americans the answers they deserve, which is why I am honored to lead this bipartisan task force that seeks truth and transparency.”

Luna told Fox News Digital that the task force will also investigate “UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files.”

A UFO is seen in the sky. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“We will work alongside President Trump and his cabinet members to deliver truth to the American people,” she said. “From this moment forward, we will restore trust through transparency.”

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Sources said Luna’s task force is authorized for six months.

Fox News Digital is told that members of the task force will be announced in the coming weeks.

February 11, 2025
Kash Patel vows to ‘do everything’ to help GOP senator expose Epstein files

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI, pledged Thursday to work with a top Republican senator on exposing who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in trafficking and exploiting children.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., quizzed Patel about how he would handle the Epstein case. The sex-trafficking financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial. Nearly 200 names that had previously been redacted from court documents in a lawsuit against his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were made public last year.

However, Blackburn said there is still more to be known, including the names of those who flew on his plane and accomplices.

KASH PATEL FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER BEING GRILLED ON J6 PARDONS: ‘BRUTAL REALITY CHECK’

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., questions Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, during Patel’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

“I want to talk to you about the Epstein case. I have worked on this for years trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein’s plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking sex trafficking ring,” she said.

She used her remarks to take a jab at former Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin.

“Now, earlier, I urged then Chairman Durbin to subpoena those records, and I ended up being blocked by Senator Durbin and Christopher Wray. They stonewalled on this,” she said. “And I know that breaking up these trafficking rings is important to President Trump. So will you work with me on this issue? So we know who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in building these sex trafficking rings?” she asked.

KASH PATEL HAMMERS ‘GROTESQUE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ FROM DEMS AMID FIERY FBI CONFIRMATION HEARING

Jeffrey Epstein mugshot from 2019 after federal authorities filed trafficking charges against him. (Kypros/Getty Images)

“Absolutely, Senator,” Patel responded. “Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward,” he said.

Following the exchange between Blackburn and Patel, Durbin requested to respond to Blackburn’s jab at him and accused the Tennessee senator of “falsely” accusing him “of preventing releasing the names of Jeffrey Epstein’s network.”

“My office subsequently reached out to hers to try to identify what records she was actually seeking. We did not receive a response,” he added.

Blackburn fired back and said she had “raised the issue with Chairman Durbin. I had raised it on the floor that we wanted to get these records… You sought not to recognize me.”

Patel’s nomination has sparked early criticism from some Democrats ahead of his confirmation hearing, who have cited his previous vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the “deep state.”

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Democrats had pointed to Patel’s record and a book, “Government Gangsters,” released in 2023 that claimed that “deep state” government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed “Overhauling the FBI.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

January 30, 2025