WASHINGTON

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Tuesday on the FBI to conduct a counterintelligence threat assessment of files connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"Whatever may be in the Epstein files is clearly troubling enough that (President) Donald Trump doesn’t want to touch this issue with a ten-foot pole," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

"So it’s natural to ask: what happens if America’s adversaries use cyber-attacks or other means to access investigative materials into Jeffrey Epstein that are embarrassing – or worse – for President Trump and the people around him?

"What happens if Epstein materials end up in the hands of the Chinese government, or Russia, or North Korea?" he said.

Schumer said unless the Epstein files are released and made "fully transparent" to the public, the US's adversaries could use the information to "blackmail someone like the president" or other senior leaders in government.

"So today, I am calling on the FBI to immediately conduct a counterintelligence threat assessment to ensure we understand the risk posed if a foreign adversary were to gain access to anything connected to the Epstein files," he added.

The senator called on the FBI to determine whether foreign intelligence agencies could gain access to the information in the Epstein files through methods that include "cyber intrusion."

He also asked the agency to identify any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by foreign intelligence, such as “being able to gain leverage over Donald Trump, his family or other senior government officials.”

"And third, I’m calling on the FBI to publicly show they are developing mitigation strategies to counter these threats and safeguard our national security," he said.

Trump's friendship with Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s has come under intense scrutiny after the Justice Department determined earlier this month that Epstein was not murdered when he died in his jail cell in 2019. It also said that Epstein had no "client list," a document that Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February was "on my desk right now to review."

The findings have sparked an uproar among Trump's MAGA, or Make America Great Again, base, who have long clamored for the release of all government documents on Epstein.