Washington — Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is seeking documents from the Justice Department on its move earlier this year to end the investigation into alleged co-conspirators of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .

"I write to demand an explanation for why DOJ has abandoned the women and girls abused by Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell, and their co-conspirators, fired or cut off career prosecutors from the case, and ceased its investigation into one of the largest sex trafficking rings in history," Raskin wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which was first obtained by CBS News.

The demand comes amid relentless bipartisan interest in the investigation, which has dogged the Justice Department's top officials as

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