The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee unleashed 11 subpoenas on Tuesday, ordering the Justice Department to surrender every document tied to Jeffrey Epstein and summoning a bipartisan roster of political heavyweights for sworn depositions.
Committtee Chairman Rep. James Comer demanded the department deliver the “full, complete, unredacted Epstein Files” by August 19.
Closed-door testimony will begin August 18 with Trump’s former Attorney General William Barr and run through October 14 with former President Bill Clinton. Others subpoenaed include ex-Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales; former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller; and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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The panel also wants to question Ghislaine Maxwell, but her deposition is on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether to hear her appeal of a 2022 sex-trafficking conviction.
Comer argued that Congress must oversee “the federal government’s enforcement of sex-trafficking laws… and its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell.”
Tuesday’s move defies Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, both of whom urged Republicans to let the DOJ handle the matter. A Democratic motion by Rep. Summer Lee—joined by GOP Reps. Nancy Mace, Scott Perry, and Brian Jack—forced the subpoenas out of committee last month.
The order starts a 14-day countdown that could spark a separation-of-powers clash if Attorney General Pam Bondi refuses to comply. House members note that July’s heavily redacted release—and a memo asserting Epstein died by suicide with no “client list”—only intensified demands for transparency.
Preparing for resistance, Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are whipping signatures for a discharge petition to force a floor vote on declassifying the files when Congress returns in September.
The subpoenas stretch across four administrations and require all communications between the Biden administration and the DOJ on Epstein. Democrats say that scope undercuts GOP claims of partisanship, while Republicans insist the full timeline is essential.
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