--- alias: - Rep. Jamie Raskin - Representative Jamie Raskin born: 1962-12-13 category: Political Figure created: 2026-09-25 location: Maryland relations: - fn: 2 role: ranking member type: member_of with: '[[House Committee on the Judiciary]]' - fn: 3 start: 2025-08-12 type: investigated with: '[[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]]' - fn: 3 start: 2025-10-30 type: investigated with: '[[Tanisha Hall]]' - fn: 8 start: 2026-06-17 type: investigated with: '[[Bard College]]' summary: Maryland Democratic congressman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee who from 2025 pursued Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a Texas prison camp, her reported treatment there and Epstein's gifts to Bard College. tags: - Person - JamieRaskin - Congress - HouseJudiciaryCommittee - JeffreyEpstein - GhislaineMaxwell - FederalPrisonCampBryan - BardCollege updated: 2026-09-25 --- Jamie Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the eighth district of [Maryland](/places/maryland/), in office since January 3, 2017, and the ranking member of the [House Committee on the Judiciary](/organizations/house-committee-on-the-judiciary/). From August 2025 he wrote to the [Department of Justice](/organizations/department-of-justice/), the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the warden of [Federal Prison Camp Bryan](/places/federal-prison-camp-bryan/) and President [Donald Trump](/people/donald-trump/) about [Ghislaine Maxwell](/people/ghislaine-maxwell/)'s transfer to the minimum-security camp after her interview by Deputy Attorney General [Todd Blanche](/people/todd-blanche/), and about her treatment there. With Jim Jordan he managed the House debate on the [Epstein Files Transparency Act](/concepts/epstein-files-transparency-act/), and in 2026 he wrote to [Bard College](/organizations/bard-college/) about [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/)'s gifts to it.[^1][^2][^3] ### Maxwell's Transfer Blanche interviewed Maxwell under a grant of limited use immunity in Tallahassee on July 24 and 25, 2025, and on August 1 she was moved from the low-security prison there to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in [Texas](/places/texas/). On August 12, 2025 Raskin, with other Judiciary Committee Democrats, wrote to Attorney General [Pam Bondi](/people/pam-bondi/) and Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III about the transfer. On October 30 he wrote to the camp's warden, Tanisha Hall, that neither the department nor the bureau had answered, and that the transfer appeared to be "in apparent flagrant violation of BOP policies, including one that prohibits sex offenders from placement in such facilities."[^3][^4] The October 30 letter drew on an October 11, 2025 investigation by [The Wall Street Journal](/organizations/the-wall-street-journal/). It stated that in mid-August "hundreds of inmates were locked down during their usual outdoor recreation time while Ms. Maxwell met with multiple unidentified visitors in the prison chapel," that one inmate reported Maxwell returned "with a smile on her face," saying the meeting "went well," that guards delivered meals to her dormitory room, and that she was escorted to the recreation area for late-night workouts. It stated that an inmate who told a British newspaper in August that "Human trafficking is a violent crime" was removed from a training program and transferred to the Federal Detention Center in [Houston](/places/houston/), and quoted her attorney: "Nobody's going to say anything about Ghislaine Maxwell now." Raskin wrote that he sought to determine "why you appear to have joined this Administration's efforts to cover up the decades-long, international, multi-billion dollar Epstein-Maxwell sex trafficking conspiracy."[^3] ### The November 2025 Letter to Trump On November 9, 2025 Raskin wrote to Trump, citing "documents and information received over the last several days," that "under Dr. Tanisha Hall, the warden of Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan, the federal law enforcement staff working at the camp have been waiting on Ms. Maxwell hand and foot," that "Ms. Maxwell's meals have been customized and prepared by federal prison camp staff and then personally delivered to her in her cell by longtime federal employees," and that Maxwell "is working on filing a 'Commutation Application.'" The letter attributed to whistleblower information provided to the committee's minority an account that a top official at the camp had complained he was "sick of having to be Maxwell's bitch." It stated that the camp was "a facility Ms. Maxwell was actually ineligible to be transferred to due to her convicted sex offender status." It demanded that Blanche testify "immediately" to "answer for this corrupt misuse of law enforcement resources and potential exchange of favors for false testimony exonerating you and other Epstein accomplices," and quoted Maxwell's lawyer's public remark that "there's always a quid pro quo."[^5] The letter stated that in the Blanche interview Maxwell "recited the same lies that originally led [DOJ] to charge her with perjury in 2020," including that she "never interacted with anyone underage" and never saw Epstein have "inappropriate sexual contact with anyone," and that she had called [Virginia Giuffre](/people/virginia-giuffre/)'s allegations against [Prince Andrew](/people/prince-andrew/) "bullshit." Raskin called her testimony "the demonstrable actual 'bullshit' in this episode."[^5] ### The January 2026 Letter On January 23, 2026 Raskin and [Robert Garcia](/people/robert-garcia/), ranking member of the [House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform](/organizations/house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform/), wrote to Bondi and to Acting Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume of the [Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General](/organizations/department-of-justice-office-of-the-inspector-general/), citing "over a dozen whistleblowers." They wrote that "Ms. Maxwell has been permitted to use a laptop, unsupervised, while at Bryan," that she had "access to staff-only areas to watch CNN by herself," and that "the Warden sends out Ms. Maxwell's mail under the Warden's own name"; that the warden "fired those who made protected disclosures to Congress"; and that inmates alleged "widespread sexual abuse and misconduct" at the camp. They asked that the department make "Warden Tanisha Hall available for a transcribed interview," asked the inspector general to "initiate an investigation into the reported staff misconduct," and announced a visit to the camp the following month.[^6] ### The Epstein Files Transparency Act The House passed the [Epstein Files](/concepts/epstein-files/) Transparency Act, H.R. 4405, under suspension of the rules on November 18, 2025 by 427 to 1; Jordan and Raskin managed the debate.[^7] ### Bard College On June 17, 2026 Raskin wrote to James Cox Chambers, chair of Bard's trustees, that a review by [WilmerHale](/organizations/wilmerhale/) of the college president [Leon Botstein](/people/leon-botstein/)'s dealings with Epstein was "too narrowly tailored." His letter stated that Epstein gave Bard 125,000 dollars in 2011 and 2012 and laptops in 2015, against Botstein's account of a 75,000 dollar gift and 66 laptops, and that Botstein "apparently knew that a 2014 donation to the college by apparent co-conspirator [Leon Black](/people/leon-black/) was made at Mr. Epstein's behest." Black has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The letter asked Bard to make Botstein available for a transcribed interview and to produce records on Epstein, [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/), [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/), Black, Maxwell and [Gratitude America](/organizations/gratitude-america/).[^8] [^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json [^2]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json [^3]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to Dr. Tanisha Hall, Warden, Federal Prison Camp Bryan, October 30, 2025, citing his letter to Pamela J. Bondi and William K. Marshall III of August 12, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-10-30-raskin-to-hall-fpcbryan-re-maxwell-1.pdf [^4]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 784, 785 (July 18, 2025), CourtListener docket 17318376. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ ; "Ghislaine Maxwell moved to federal prison camp in Texas," *CNN,* August 1, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/politics/ghislaine-maxwell-federal-prison-texas [^5]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to President Donald J. Trump, November 9, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-11-09-raskin-to-trump-wh-re-maxwell.pdf [^6]: House Judiciary Committee Democrats, "Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Demand Answers for Rampant Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Uncovered at FPC Bryan; Announce Congressional Oversight Visit," press release, January 23, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-members-raskin-garcia-demand-answers-for-rampant-sexual-abuse-and-misconduct-uncovered-at-fpc-bryan-announce-congressional-oversight-visit [^7]: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 289, H.R. 4405, November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025289 ; Congressional Record, vol. 171, November 18, 2025, H4725. https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/11/18/171/194/modified/CREC-2025-11-18-pt1-PgH4725-2.htm [^8]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf