From Florida to D.C., Epstein anticipation builds

Demands for transparency in the sex trafficking case against deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein have spilled across party lines, even over the objection of Republican leaders in Congress. Anticipation of the release of more information about possible Epstein co-conspirators helped bring the House of Representatives to a standstill just before lawmakers took a break for the August recess.

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Law Enforcement voted Wednesday afternoon to subpoena documents on Epstein from the Justice Department. The measure, introduced by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., passed in an 8-2 vote. Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Brian Jack of Georgia voted with the five Democrats on the panel to order the subpoena.

“My motion to subpoena the Epstein files passed our Oversight subcommittee; now the DOJ has to release them. If elected [officials] don’t fulfill our most basic role to hold the wealthy and powerful accountable for atrocities they commit against the most vulnerable, then we shouldn’t be in office,” Lee, the author of the motion, said in a post to X.

Epstein, a well-connected hedge fund manager, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges for allegedly abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14. He was known to have a high-profile social circle, including former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain’s Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump. An associate of Epstein’s, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and grooming underage girls for sexual abuse.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly committed to increasing government transparency on a range of issues, including Epstein’s clients, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAPs), and more. Many Republicans view the Epstein topic as a component of a larger effort to expose entrenched government secrets.

Earlier this week, the House Rules Committee, the body that sets the parameters for what legislation reaches the floor of the chamber, abruptly suspended consideration of this week’s agenda over divisions of whether to advance an Epstein-related resolution.

Republicans on the Rules Committee argued the resolution would threaten the privacy and safety of potentially innocent people named in the DOJ documents, including Epstein’s victims. That’s the position of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“We can both call for full transparency and also protect victims,” Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday, noting that Trump had already called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to release documents related to Epstein’s grand jury trials from 2005 and 2007.

A federal judge in Florida ruled Wednesday that Bondi could not release the grand jury documents. The White House has not announced whether it intends to appeal the ruling.

Republicans in Congress have expressed varying degrees of skepticism about statements from the Department of Justice last month that it had done all it could to uncover a list of people for whom Epstein arranged explicit encounters with minors.

“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the DOJ recently said in a statement. “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

Many Republicans want to review the evidence for themselves and, more broadly, believe the government should make its work public.

Instead of putting the Epstein congressional resolution to another vote in the Rules Committee, Johnson opted to suspend the operations of the House a week early ahead of the August recess. When asked, the lawmakers I talked to said they supported putting more pressure on the DOJ to release its investigative efforts to the public.

Ahead of the Oversight subcommittee subpoena vote on Wednesday afternoon, I asked Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., if he would encourage the committee to subpoena the Department of Justice.

“If necessary, maybe, yeah,” Burlison said.

Despite the blocked request to unseal the grand jury testimony, Burlison believes that the Trump administration understands the demand for transparency enough to act on it before a subpoena—or any action from Congress—forces its hand in some way.

“I think they understand this is an important issue,” Burlison said.

Before Congress returns from the August recess, lawmakers may hear testimony from Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted associate, who some Republicans hope will shed more light on Epstein’s criminal dealings. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the Oversight Committee, has issued a subpoena for Maxwell to give a deposition from the federal correctional institution where she is incarcerated in Tallahassee, Fla., on Aug. 11.

Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell for a second day on Friday. Blanche previously said he would ask Maxwell about possible evidence against Epstein’s clients. He said on Thursday that the Justice Department would release information about what it learned at the appropriate time.