The House Oversight Committee chaired by James Comer has stepped into the Jeffrey Epstein controversy. Yesterday, the committee subpoenaed records relating to Epstein investigations from the Department of Justice, and appearances for deposition testimony by attorneys general from Alberto Gonzales through Merrick Garland, along with Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The depositions are scheduled to begin on August 18 and culminate with Bill Clinton on October 14. The DOJ subpoena and the cover letters to the various witnesses are embedded below.
I assume that this represents a concession to popular interest in the Epstein case. The Democrats, after caring nothing about Epstein through four years of the Biden administration, are now trying to tie him to President Trump. This is an act of pure desperation. Meanwhile, many on the right have embraced theories about Epstein that place him at the center of a vast, global conspiracy to engage in pedophilia, much like the QAnon narrative.
Epstein’s crimes were deplorable, but I doubt that such theories hold much validity. Other than Prince Andrew, the only person I am aware of who was accused of participating in such a ring by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, was Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz sued Giuffre for defamation and she recanted her accusation. And the only politician who is known to have had a questionable relationship with Epstein was Bill Clinton.
I don’t know what the federal law is with regard to documents related to a criminal investigation that are not introduced as evidence in court. I assume that documents produced by DOJ will be heavily redacted, which will not satisfy those with interest in the case. The cover letters to attorneys general and Comey and Mueller say that because those of those individuals’ public offices, they may have information about the case. I doubt that. My guess is that all of the witnesses except Bill Clinton will say they know little or nothing about the Epstein case, which is plausible.
The subpoena to Bill Clinton says: “Given your past relationships with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, the Committee believes that you have information regarding their activities that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation.” I am sure he does, but whether the committee will be able to extract it is doubtful.
This is the document subpoena to the Department of Justice. It is thorough:
2025.08.05 Subpoena and Schedule to DOJ by John Hinderaker on Scribd
These are the cover letters to the individuals who are subpoenaed for testimony:
2025.08.05 Subpoena Cover Letters by John Hinderaker on Scribd
The letters say:
The Committee may use the results of this investigation to inform legislative solutions to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.
I suppose that is possible, but I think what is mostly going on here is an attempt to defuse a controversy that has become a distraction from the priorities of the Trump administration and Congress.
