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The committee's subpoena is the latest effort by both
Republicans and Democrats to respond to public clamor for more
disclosure in the investigation into Epstein, who was found dead
in his New York jail cell in 2019. Lawmakers are trying to guide
an investigation into who among Epstein's high-powered social
circle may have been aware of his sexual abuse of teenage girls,
delving into a criminal case that has spurred conspiracy
theories and roiled top officials in President Donald Trump's
administration.
The subpoena, signed by Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair
of the oversight committee, and dated Monday, demands that
Epstein's estate provide Congress with documents including a
book that was compiled with notes from friends for his 50th
birthday, his last will and testament, agreements he signed with
prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions
and holdings.
Comer wrote to the executors of Epstein's estate that the
committee “is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the
federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and
Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent
investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of
sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to
effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics
rules related to elected officials.”
The Justice Department, trying to distance Trump and Epstein,
last week began handing over to lawmakers documentation of the
federal investigation into Epstein. It has also released
transcripts of interviews conducted with Ghislaine Maxwell, his
former girlfriend. But Democrats on the committee have not been
satisfied with those efforts, saying that the some 33,000 pages
of documents they've received are mostly already public.
“DOJ’s limited disclosure raises more questions than answers and
makes clear that the White House is not interested in justice
for the victims or the truth,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top
Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
Pressure from lawmakers to release more information is likely to
only grow when Congress returns to Washington next week.
A bipartisan group of House members is attempting to maneuver
around Republican leadership to hold a vote to pass legislation
meant to require the Justice Department to release a full
accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.
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