House subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein
files
[July 24, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES and MATT BROWN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House subcommittee on Wednesday voted to subpoena
the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation
into Jeffrey Epstein after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers
to defy President Donald Trump and Republican leadership to support the
action.
The vote showed the intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein
investigation even as House Speaker Mike Johnson — caught between
demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to
act — was sending lawmakers home a day early for its August recess. The
House Committee on Oversight also issued a subpoena Wednesday for
Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late
Epstein, to testify before committee officials in August.
Meanwhile, Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Oversight
Committee made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon. Three
Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending
it through on an 8-2 vote tally.
The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana,
said that work was beginning to draft the subpoena but did not give a
timeline for when it would be issued.
“I've never handled a subpoena like this. This is some fascinating
stuff,” said Higgins, who voted against the motion.
Democrats cheered the action as proof that their push for disclosures in
the Epstein investigation was growing stronger. The committee agreed to
redact information on victims, yet Democrats successfully blocked a push
by Republicans to only subpoena information that was deemed to be
“credible” — language that Trump has also used when discussing what he
would support releasing.
“Democrats are focused on transparency and are pushing back against the
corruption against Donald Trump. What is Donald Trump hiding that he
won't release the Epstein files?” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the top
Democrat on the oversight committee.
Democrats push for disclosure of the Epstein files
Earlier Wednesday, Johnson had said there was no need to vote on a
separate piece of bipartisan legislation calling for the release of the
Epstein files this week because the Trump administration is “already
doing everything within their power to release them.”
Yet Democrats have delighted in pressing Republicans to support the
release of the files. Their efforts halted the GOP's legislative agenda
for the week and turned attention to an issue that Trump has
unsuccessfully implored his supporters to forget about.
“They're fleeing our work, our job and sending us back home because they
don't want to vote to release these files. This is something that they
ran on. This is something that they talked about: the importance of
transparency, holding pedophiles accountable,” said Rep. Summer Lee, the
Pennsylvania Democrat who pushed for the subpoena.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., blames Democrats, former
President Joe Biden, and Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie of
Kentucky, over the Jeffrey Epstein situation, during a news
conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Democrats have seized on Epstein files to divide GOP
Democratic leaders are hoping to make the issue about much more than
just Epstein, who died in his New York jail cell six years ago while
he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
“Why haven't Republicans released the Epstein files to the American
people? It's reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing
to protect the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless, even if
that includes pedophiles,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem
Jeffries at a news conference. “So it's all connected.”
It comes as both parties are gearing up to take their messaging to
voters on Trump’s big multitrillion-dollar tax breaks and spending
cuts bill. For Republicans, it's “beautiful” legislation that will
spark economic growth; for Democrats, it's an “ugly” gift mostly to
the richest Americans that undermines health care for low-income
people.
Yet as furor has grown on the right over the Trump administration’s
reversal on promises related to Epstein, several Democrats have
seized on the opportunity to divide Republicans on the issue.
“This goes to a fundamental sense of, ‘Is our government co-opted by
rich and powerful people that isn’t looking out for ordinary
Americans? Or can we have a government that looks out for ordinary
Americans?’” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has put
forward a bipartisan bill meant to force the release of the files.
Republican leaders accuse Democrats of caring about the issue purely
for political gain. They point out that the Department of Justice
held on to the Epstein investigation through the presidency of
Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump's Justice Department has also sought the release of testimony
from secret grand jury proceedings in the Epstein case, but a
federal judge in Florida rejected that request on Wednesday. A
similar records request is still pending in New York.
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