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House oversight sheet besides issues deposition subpoenas for erstwhile apical US officials, including Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Washington, DC – The Republican-led oversight committee successful the United States House of Representatives has issued a subpoena to get records related to the precocious enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein, amid ongoing scrutiny astir his case.
Also connected Tuesday, the panel’s Republican seat James Comer issued deposition subpoenas for apical officials from some large parties, including ex-President Bill Clinton, erstwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and erstwhile Attorney General Bill Barr.
Former FBI Director James Comey, a bitter rival of President Donald Trump, has besides been called to testify.
The Justice Department subpoena, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, requests the merchandise of “all documents and communications relating oregon referring to” Epstein and his ex-girlfriend and convicted enactment trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Congress has the authorization to contented subpoenas, which are legally binding requests for documents and appearances for questioning.
Tuesday’s subpoenas followed bipartisan subcommittee motions directing Comer to contented the requests.
Since his decease successful national custody successful 2019, Epstein, a affluent financier, has been the taxable of involvement and conspiracy theories.
Some person speculated that his decease was not a suicide, arsenic was the aesculapian examiner’s authoritative ruling. Conspiracy theorists person agelong argued that Epstein socialised with the affluent and almighty — including royalty, apical academics and authorities officials — who mightiness privation their relation with him covered up.
The lawsuit is proving to beryllium a headache for Trump, who has been facing calls, including from salient conservatives wrong his base, to merchandise each Epstein-related documents.
Trump had a idiosyncratic narration with Epstein and took respective photos with him implicit the years.
The Wall Street Journal reported past period that Trump sent Epstein a missive containing intersexual references connected the financier’s 50th day successful 2003. The US president has denied the missive and sued the newspaper implicit the allegation.
But that has not snuffed retired the propulsion to marque everything the authorities knows astir Epstein public.
The Trump administration’s refusal to merchandise the records has fuelled unproven allegations that Epstein had a “client list” of almighty radical who abused girls and young women connected his property.
One of the astir salient conspiracy theories posits that Epstein whitethorn person utilized the database to blackmail his associates for idiosyncratic summation oregon connected behalf of a home oregon overseas quality service.
Right-wing commentators, who align with Trump ideologically, person agelong championed that theory, successful portion owed to Epstein’s ties to the Clintons, who are Democrats.
Last month, the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a memo denying the beingness of an incriminating lawsuit database oregon immoderate grounds of blackmail.
Instead, they said the files see tens of thousands of videos and images of intersexual maltreatment of young girls and women, grounds that is sealed by the courts and would not beryllium released to support the privateness of the victims.
“Through this review, we recovered nary ground to revisit the disclosure of those materials and volition not licence the merchandise of kid pornography,” the memo read.
“One of our highest priorities is combatting kid exploitation and bringing justness to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories astir Epstein serves neither of those ends,” it added.
The memo besides asserted that Epstein died by suicide, dismissing conspiracy theories challenging the authoritative mentation of the events.
Epstein’s crimes came to the authorities’ attraction agelong earlier his decease successful 2019.
In 2008, Epstein faced accusations of sexually abusing teenage girls. But the Justice Department offered him a plea woody that saw him service 13 months successful a work-release jailhouse programme, alternatively of a imaginable beingness condemnation if the lawsuit had gone to trial.
Epstein was re-arrested successful July 2019 for enactment trafficking and died successful his situation compartment weeks aboriginal astatine the property of 66.
One of Epstein’s associates, Maxwell, remains successful situation aft a condemnation connected charges of kid enactment trafficking and abusing teenage girls.
The Justice Department, nether Trump, has sent representatives to interrogation Maxwell successful situation amid the caller scrutiny, and past week, she was moved to a minimum-security installation to service the remainder of her 20-year sentence.
In a tribunal filing connected Tuesday, Maxwell indicated she opposed the government’s efforts to merchandise expansive assemblage transcripts related to her case.
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