Hannah Parry

By Hannah Parry

Associate News Editor

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A former attorney general, who served under George W. Bush, is testifying about the controversial Jeffrey Epstein deal at the House Oversight Committee Tuesday.

Alberto Gonzales led the Department of Justice (DOJ) discussions with Florida federal prosecutors which resulted in Epstein's non-prosecution agreement in 2007. Gonzales then left the department just one week before the deal.

What To Know

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Aug 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM EDT

Alberto Gonzales’s subpoena cover letter: What did it say?

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's subpoena cover letter to Alberto Gonzales explained why he was being called before Congress.

"Your tenure as U.S. Attorney General, from 2005 to late 2007, coincided with a time period when the FBI investigated Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida prepared a draft 60-count indictment of Mr. Epstein, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida offered a plea bargain to Mr. Epstein, leading to the signing of Mr. Epstein's non-prosecution agreement only one week after you left office," Comer wrote.

Aug 26, 2025 at 10:37 AM EDT

Subpoenaed former officials in Epstein investigation revealed

The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed ten high-profile former officials as part of its expanding investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. The move follows renewed scrutiny over the Justice Department's handling of Epstein-related files and growing pressure from lawmakers to uncover potential misconduct.

Here's the list of individuals subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee in connection with the Epstein case:

Aug 26, 2025 at 10:22 AM EDT

What to know about William Barr’s testimony to House Oversight Committee investigators

Former Attorney General William Barr testified before the House Oversight Committee on August 18, becoming the first witness in the panel's expanded investigation into the federal government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

His deposition, held behind closed doors, focused on Epstein's prosecution, death, and the lingering speculation surrounding both.

House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer told reporters, during a break in Barr's testimony, that the former attorney general had been "very transparent" with his answers.

Barr testified that he did not know anything about an Epstein "client list" and during his tenure at the Justice Department, he had never seen any evidence that would implicate President Donald Trump to Epstein's crimes, Comer said.

Comer added that that Barr told the Committee that "if there had been anything pertaining to President Trump with respect to the Epstein list, that he felt like the Biden administration would have probably leaked it out."

Barr also testified that he believed the official line that Epstein had died by suicide in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, according to Comer. However, Barr acknowledged serious security failures, including gaps in camera coverage, which fueled ongoing conspiracy theories.

Comer himself admitted he remains uncertain, telling reporters he has "no idea" whether Epstein truly killed himself.

Aug 26, 2025 at 10:10 AM EDT

Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed over Jeffrey Epstein files

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton

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Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been subpoenaed as part of the congressional investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer warned that anyone defying a congressional subpoena can be held in contempt of Congress and could face jail time.

Earlier this month, the committee announced it had subpoenaed a number of prominent figures as part of its investigation into Epstein's crimes, including the Clintons, former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller and ex-attorneys general, including Merrick Garland and Jeff Sessions.

n 2022, a statement from the former Democratic president said he "knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has recently been charged in New York."

Bill Clinton's statement added he had "not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade" and said he had never been to Epstein's private island or his residences in Florida and New Mexico.

Aug 26, 2025 at 09:51 AM EDT

Epstein files update: What to know

The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer, has stepped up efforts to obtain previously sealed materials relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

A key development is a subpoena issued to Epstein's estate—demanding a range of documents by September 8, including the so-called "birthday book," contact logs, flight records, and financial documents. This heightened scrutiny comes amid persistent concerns about transparency and potential failures by federal authorities in handling the Epstein case

Simultaneously, the Department of Justice has begun delivering Epstein-related records to Congress, though most initial disclosures are already in the public domain. Lawmakers are pressing for more meaningful information on Maxwell's interview transcripts, details of plea deals, surveillance footage, and other materials central to understanding the scope of Epstein's network.

Meanwhile, a federal judge upheld the judicial system's commitment to confidentiality by rejecting the DOJ's request to unseal grand jury transcripts connected to Epstein's case. The ruling asserted that the government failed to make a compelling case for disclosure—maintaining that these materials remain protected under grand jury secrecy rules.

Aug 26, 2025 at 09:46 AM EDT

WATCH: Oversight Committee Chair Comer defends Trump, cites Barr’s doubts on links to Epstein files

Aug 26, 2025 at 09:31 AM EDT

Ghislaine Maxwell contradicts Trump claim about Bill Clinton

Jeffrey Epstein's imprisoned former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell has contradicted President Donald Trump by denying former President Bill Clinton ever visited Epstein's private island.

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of helping lure girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, said the former president "absolutely never went" to Little Saint James while being interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month. The Department of Justice released transcripts and audio recordings of the interviews on Friday.

"He never. Absolutely never went," she said, according to the transcript.

"And I can be sure of that because there's no way he would have gone—I don't believe there's any way that he would've gone to the island had I not been there. Because I don't believe he had an independent friendship, if you will, with Epstein."

She said trips that Clinton took on Epstein's plane had a "humanitarian side."

The comments contradict President Donald Trump, who claimed in July that Clinton had visited Epstein's small private island "28 times."

Clinton's office said in a July 2019 statement that the former president "knows nothing" about Epstein's crimes and denied that he ever went to the island.

Newsweek has contacted Clinton's office and the White House for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.

Aug 26, 2025 at 09:19 AM EDT

Why didn’t Biden release the Epstein files?

Despite public pressure, former President Joe Biden did not release the so-called "Epstein files" during his administration.

Most of the Epstein files fall under the category of grand jury material, which is protected by federal law. Such records can only be unsealed by a judge under extraordinary circumstances. Even when the Justice Department sought court approval to make portions of the materials public, federal judges rejected those requests, ruling that the information did not meet the threshold for disclosure.

While some related documents have surfaced through civil litigation—such as filings from defamation cases involving Ghislaine Maxwell—these were released by court order, not by executive action. The president does not have the authority to override the judiciary and unilaterally disclose grand jury evidence.

Political dynamics also played a role. The Biden White House emphasized the Justice Department's independence, with aides describing Attorney General Merrick Garland as particularly cautious about avoiding any appearance of political influence. Former administration officials have said that Biden did not direct DOJ actions on Epstein, wary of politicizing the case.

However, critics, including some Republicans in Congress, accused Democrats of failing to push harder for transparency.

Aug 26, 2025 at 09:07 AM EDT

Virginia Giuffre book has no abuse allegations against Trump: Publisher

Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's most well-known accusers, did not make any abuse allegations against President Donald Trump in her upcoming book, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf has said.

Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice is set to be released on October 21, Knopf told The Associated Press (AP).

It comes amid a renewed wave of attention on Epstein's circle after the Department of Justice and FBI released a joint memo concluding that Epstein died by suicide, that there was no "incriminating list" of clients and "no credible evidence" that Epstein blackmailed powerful people.

Newsweek has contacted the White House and Alfred A. Knopf, via email, for comment.

Read in full from Jordan King on Newsweek.

nobody's girl memoir

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Aug 26, 2025 at 08:57 AM EDT

WATCH: Epstein accuser from 1990s says government should release Epstein files

Aug 26, 2025 at 08:47 AM EDT

What is Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book?

House Democrats have renewed efforts to obtain a copy of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged "birthday book," a leather-bound album created for his 50th birthday in 2003 that reportedly contains contributions from dozens of his friends and associates.

One of those messages allegedly came from Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The book was organized by Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate, who told Justice Department officials in a recent interview that Epstein asked her to collect messages, poems, and drawings from those in his social circle. Maxwell said she could not recall whether Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded, though documents reviewed by Journal suggest his name appears in the volume.

According to the Journal, the entry attributed to Trump features several lines of typewritten text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. Beneath the drawing, the name "Donald" is scrawled in a manner resembling pubic hair. The message concludes: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump has denied authoring the letter and threatened to sue the Journal for $10 billion.

Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee have subpoenaed the book from Epstein's estate, describing it as potentially significant to ongoing inquiries into how Epstein cultivated influence among prominent figures. Attorneys representing Epstein's victims say the book exists and could be produced quickly if ordered by a court.

Aug 26, 2025 at 08:30 AM EDT

House Oversight Committee issues new subpoena to Jeffrey Epstein’s estate

House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, issued a new subpoena to Jeffrey Epstein's estate on Monday.

"I have issued a subpoena to the Epstein estate for documents & communications in its possession, custody, or control in unredacted form. Alexander Acosta, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, will appear for a transcribed interview on September 19," Comer announced in a post on X.

Comer linked to the Oversight Committee's post about the update, noting the news of the subpoena for the Epstein estate, the upcoming interview of Acosta, and thirdly in part that he is accepting "formal written declarations from former Attorneys General Alberto Gonzelez, Eric Holder, and Jeff Sessions under penalty of prosecution for false statements stating they possess no information about the Epstein or Maxwell cases."

The Oversight Committee had earlier issued a subpoena to the Justice Department demanding records related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The DOJ began sending material to the committee after the August 19 deadline, delivering tens of thousands of pages, which committee Democrats said largely duplicated previously public records.

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