House committee issues subpoenas for Epstein files and depositions with
the Clintons
[August 06, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice
Department on Tuesday for files in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking
investigation and is seeking depositions with the Clintons and former
law enforcement officials, part of a congressional probe that lawmakers
believe may show links to President Donald Trump and former top
officials.
The Republican-controlled committee issued subpoenas for depositions
with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.
The committee’s actions showed how even with lawmakers away from
Washington on a monthlong break, interest in the Epstein files is still
running high. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and
claimed he cut off their relationship long ago, and he has repeatedly
tried to move past the Justice Department’s decision not to release a
full accounting of the investigation. But lawmakers from both major
political parties, as well as many in the Republican president’s
political base, have refused to let it go.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the oversight committee,
noted in letters to Attorney General Pam Bondi and the former officials
that the cases of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell
“have received immense public interest and scrutiny.”
“While the Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly
disclose additional information related to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s
cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal
government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and
specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr.
Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,” Comer said.
Epstein’s circle
Since Epstein’s 2019 death in a New York jail cell as he awaited trial
for sex trafficking charges, conservative conspiracists have stoked
theories about what information investigators gathered on Epstein — and
who else knew about his sexual abuse of teenage girls. Republican
lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee nodded to that line of
questioning last month by initiating the subpoenas for the Clintons,
both Democrats, as well as demanding all communications between
President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration and the Justice
Department regarding Epstein.
Bill Clinton was among a number of luminaries acquainted with Epstein, a
wealthy financier, before the criminal investigation against him in
Florida became public two decades ago. Clinton has never been accused of
wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.
One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, once gave a newspaper
interview in which she described riding in a helicopter with Clinton and
flirting with Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those
things hadn’t actually happened and were mistakes by the reporter.
Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that while he
traveled on Epstein’s jet he never visited his homes and had no
knowledge of his crimes.
The committee is also demanding interviews under oath from former
attorneys general spanning the last four presidential administrations:
Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder
and Alberto Gonzales. Lawmakers also subpoenaed former FBI Directors
James Comey and Robert Mueller.
However, it was Democrats who sparked the move to subpoena the Justice
Department for its files on Epstein. They were joined by some
Republicans last month to successfully initiate the subpoena through a
subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.
“Today was an important step forward in our fight for transparency
regarding the Epstein files and our dedication to seeking justice for
the victims,” said Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on
the committee, and Summer Lee, who initiated the subpoena, in a joint
statement. “Now, we must continue putting pressure on the Department of
Justice until we actually receive every document.”
[to top of second column]
|
A board outlining the case against Ghislaine Maxwell is seen during
a news conference to announce charges against Maxwell for her
alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor
girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo, File)
Will the subpoenas be enforced?
The subpoenas give the Justice Department until Aug. 19 to hand over
the requested records, though such requests are typically open to
negotiation and can be resisted by the Trump administration.
The committee is also asking the former officials to appear for the
depositions throughout August, September and October, concluding
with Hillary Clinton on Oct. 9 and Bill Clinton on Oct. 14.
Multiple former presidents have voluntarily testified before
Congress, but none has been compelled to do so. That history was
invoked by Trump in 2022, between his first and second terms, when
he faced a subpoena by the House committee investigating the deadly
Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
Lawyers for Trump resisted the subpoena, citing decades of legal
precedent they said shielded an ex-president from being ordered to
appear before Congress. The committee ultimately withdrew its
subpoena.
The committee had previously issued a subpoena for an interview with
Maxwell, who had been serving a prison sentence in Florida for
luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but was
recently transferred to a Texas facility.
However, Comer has indicated he is willing to delay that deposition
until after the Supreme Court decides whether to hear an appeal to
her conviction. She argues she was wrongfully prosecuted.
As the Justice Department has tried to appease demands for more
disclosure, it has turned attention to Maxwell. Officials
interviewed her for 1 1/2 days last month.
But Democrats stressed the importance of gaining direct access to
the investigative files, rather than relying on Maxwell’s words.
“We need these files now in order to corroborate any claims she
makes,” Garcia and Lee said, adding, “This fight is not over.”
Prosecutors say there’s not much new in grand jury transcripts
Another way the Trump administration is trying to address the public
clamor for more transparency is by asking federal judges to unseal
grand jury transcripts in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell. But
prosecutors indicated Monday the public already knows a lot of
what’s in the documents.
Much of the information “was made publicly available at trial or has
otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of
victims and witnesses,” prosecutors wrote in court papers Monday.
The prosecutors also made clear they’re seeking to unseal only the
transcripts of grand jury witnesses’ testimony, not the exhibits
that accompanied it.
___
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York, David Caruso in
New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
