WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Tuesday (Aug 5) subpoenaed former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton as part of an escalating congressional probe into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities and alleged government missteps.
The subpoenas, issued by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, are part of a broader investigation into how the Justice Department handled Epstein’s case before and after his 2019 death in a New York jail while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. His death was ruled a suicide, though many supporters of President Donald Trump allege a cover-up.
MULTIPLE SUBPOENAS ISSUED
In addition to the Clintons, the panel also subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey, ex-special counsel Robert Mueller, and several former attorneys general, including Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales. Their depositions are scheduled between mid-August and mid-October.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accused Clinton of having a relationship with Epstein, citing flight records and a widely circulated photo showing him receiving a massage from one of Epstein’s alleged victims.
“By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003,” Comer wrote to the former president.
The committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for records related to Epstein, including communications with President Joe Biden’s administration.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNDER PRESSURE
The renewed interest in the Epstein case follows pressure from Trump supporters and lawmakers to release previously sealed documents. After returning to office in January, Trump promised to make the case files public.
However, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on July 7 that there was nothing further to release. The decision drew backlash from Republicans and prompted additional scrutiny after a Wall Street Journal report alleged Trump had written a lewd birthday note to Epstein in 2003. Trump denies the claim and is suing the publication.
The Journal also reported that Bondi had privately informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, though there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
The White House has not responded to the latest subpoenas. It has previously attempted to redirect public attention by accusing former president Barack Obama of orchestrating a “treasonous conspiracy” against Trump, a claim that has not been substantiated.
DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT FOR DISCLOSURE
Despite the investigation being driven by Republicans, some Democrats have backed the effort. Congresswoman Summer Lee, who led a successful vote to subpoena the Clintons just before the August recess, said transparency was critical.
“Justice must apply to everyone, no matter how rich, powerful, or well-connected they are,” she said.
Epstein was known to associate with numerous high-profile figures across the political spectrum, including both Trump and Clinton, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor.
MAXWELL OPPOSES RELEASE OF GRAND JURY MATERIALS
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend who was convicted in 2021 of helping him sexually abuse teenage girls, said on Tuesday she opposed the government’s bid to release transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that indicted her.
In a court filing, Maxwell’s lawyers said the release of the materials would jeopardize a potential retrial if she succeeds in persuading the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
“The reputational harm from releasing incomplete, potentially misleading grand jury testimony, untested by cross-examination, would be severe and irrevocable,” her lawyers wrote.
The Justice Department has cited what it calls continuing public interest in the cases in asking Manhattan-based judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer to authorize the disclosure of the grand jury transcripts.
It is unclear whether the public would learn anything new or noteworthy if such material were released.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Justice Department said in a court filing that much of the testimony from law enforcement officers at Maxwell’s 2020 grand jury proceedings was corroborated by victims and witnesses who later testified at her trial.
Lawyers for Epstein and his alleged victims are also due to share their views on the potential disclosures with the court.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking in Manhattan federal court. Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on similar charges. He had pleaded not guilty.
Her lawyers have told the Supreme Court that her conviction was invalid because a 2007 plea agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida also shielded his associates. The court is due to consider the appeal in late September.
Last month, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell to see if she had information about others who may have committed crimes. Neither party has provided details of the meeting. Maxwell was recently transferred from a Florida prison to a lower-security facility in Texas.
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