Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is pressing FBI Director Kash Patel on his handling of the Epstein files ahead of his appearance before the panel next week.

In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, Raskin questioned why the FBI has not released an alleged client list maintained by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of running a sex trafficking ring for the country’s elite. Raskin cites comments Patel made before being sworn in as FBI director. “Simple. Because of who’s on that list,” Patel previously stated.

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“Now that you are the Director of the FBI, you know precisely who is implicated in the Epstein files, yet you refuse to release them. Who are you protecting and why?” Raskin wrote in the letter, sent to the FBI on Wednesday.

“Your statement was not a random one-off comment. You have repeatedly told the public that the FBI has the power to release the Epstein files, that there exists no reason not to release them, and that you, unlike your predecessors, would be transparent with the American people,” he continued.

The letter comes as Patel is set to appear before the Judiciary Committee next Wednesday for a hearing the panel holds annually with the FBI director. It lists multiple questions in relation to Epstein for Patel to answer before the hearing and requests a list of documents as well.

Republicans have treated Raskin’s calls for transparency as a political exercise, noting that President Joe Biden did not face the same uproar over Epstein. Raskin and other House Democrats have been attempting to force the release of Epstein-related documents through a floor maneuver known as a discharge petition, prompting the House GOP to open a parallel investigation on the Oversight Committee.

So far, the committee has issued 10 subpoenas and released a slew of documents from Epstein’s estate and over 30,000 pages from the Department of Justice.

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The discharge petition, meanwhile, is nearing the 218 signatures needed to call a vote after another Democrat was elected to the House in Tuesday’s Virginia special election.

Patel’s office declined to comment on the letter.