The House Oversight Committee took significant steps to widen its probe into Jeffrey Epstein on Monday, including subpoenaing the late pedophile’s estate.
Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to attorneys representing Epstein’s estate, requesting a slew of documents by Sept. 8.
‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials,’ Comer wrote.
‘It is our understanding that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in custody and control of documents that may further the Committee’s investigation and legislative goals. Further, it is our understanding the Estate is ready and willing to provide these documents to the Committee pursuant to a subpoena.’
Comer also announced that the committee would hear from Alexander Acosta, a former Trump administration labor secretary who also served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida when Epstein entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the federal government in 2008.
Acosta is appearing before the committee for a closed-door transcribed interview on Sept. 19. He was not compelled via subpoena.
The controversial agreement, which Acosta signed off on, was concealed from more than 30 of Epstein’s underaged victims, according to The Miami Herald.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, avoiding more severe federal charges. He ended up serving 13 months in county jail with the benefit of a work-release program, made confidential settlements with some victims, and registered as a sex offender.
It also allowed co-conspirators to avoid charges – a major point of contention during his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s federal trial in late 2021. It’s also the basis of Maxwell’s appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn her guilty verdict.
Documents subpoenaed by Comer include all entries in a book compiled by Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, Epstein’s will, and information on the non-prosecution agreement.
Information is being sought on Epstein’s financial transactions, call and visitor logs, and ‘any document or record that could reasonably be construed to be a potential list of clients involved in sex, sex acts, or sex trafficking facilitated by Mr. Jeffrey Epstein,’ according to a copy of the subpoena viewed by Fox News Digital.
An attorney for the executors of Epstein’s estate told Fox News Digital they were reviewing the subpoena. ‘As the Co-Executors have always said, they will comply with all lawful process in this matter, and that includes the Committee’s subpoena,’ the attorney said.
The House Oversight Committee sent a flurry of subpoenas regarding Epstein earlier this month, kicking off a bipartisan investigation into the late pedophile.
Comer sought depositions from former FBI directors Robert Mueller and James Comey, ex-attorneys general Bill Barr and Loretta Lynch, as well as former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Barr testified last week.
The subpoenas were directed via a bipartisan vote during an unrelated House Oversight subcommittee hearing on illegal immigrant children in late July.
Renewed interest in Epstein’s case has gripped Capitol Hill after the DOJ’s handling of the matter spurred a GOP revolt by far-right figures.
The DOJ effectively declared the case closed after an ‘exhaustive review,’ revealing Epstein had no ‘client list,’ did not blackmail ‘prominent individuals,’ and confirmed he did die by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting prosecution.
Democrats seized on the discord with newfound calls for transparency in Epstein’s case, spurring accusations of hypocrisy from their Republican colleagues.
Indeed, the bipartisan unity that the investigation was kicked off with quickly disintegrated after the first witness, Barr, was deposed last week.
Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who attended part of Barr’s deposition, left the room roughly halfway through the sit-down and accused Republicans of insufficiently probing questions during their allotted time to depose Barr.
Comer, who argued those accusations were baseless, implored Democrats not to politicize a bipartisan investigation.
Divisions deepened after Comer said Barr had no knowledge of, nor did he believe, any implications of wrongdoing on President Donald Trump’s part related to Epstein.
House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who was not in the room, released a statement after the deposition, claiming Barr did not clear Trump.
