The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a far-reaching set of subpoenas to former top law enforcement and political figures, including former U.S. Presidents and Attorneys General, demanding testimony and documents related to the government’s decades-long knowledge and prosecution of the Epstein scandal.

The motion to subpoena the Justice Department for Epstein files was introduced by Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) and passed 8-2, with three Republicans—Nancy Mace (R-SC), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Brian Jack (R-GA)—joining all five Democrats.

The Committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-KY), voted unanimously on July 23, 2025, to compel appearances from a roster of former officials whose tenures coincided with pivotal moments in the Epstein saga. Letters sent August 5 from the Committee demand that figures including former Presidents William J. Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton, former FBI Directors Robert S. Mueller III and James B. Comey, and six former Attorneys General (Alberto Gonzales, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Jefferson Sessions III, William P. Barr, Merrick Garland, and current Attorney General Pamela Bondi) appear for depositions over the coming months.

A Who’s Who of Subpoenas

• Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) is sought for questioning regarding the 2006–2008 federal investigation of Epstein, a period during which a 60-count indictment was reportedly prepared and a controversial non-prosecution agreement with Epstein was finalized just after Gonzales left office.
• Former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is called due to the agency’s key investigative role under his leadership in assembling the draft indictment that never went forward.
• Former Attorneys General Holder, Lynch, and Sessions are targeted as the officials in power while the Department of Justice (DOJ) fought victims’ lawsuits under the Crime Victims Rights Act, which challenged the secrecy and validity of Epstein’s plea deal.
• Former Attorney General William Barr, who oversaw the DOJ during Epstein’s July 2019 arrest and subsequent death in federal custody, is summoned to address questions about the government’s response and supervision during these events.
• Former Attorney General Merrick Garland is requested for information about the DOJ’s decision not to release additional Epstein records during his tenure, including materials connected to the prosecution and conviction of Epstein’s alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
• Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are both asked to testify about their relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, including the former President’s verified travel on Epstein’s private jet and reported social connections spanning two decades.
• Attorney General Pamela Bondi has received a subpoena for the “full, complete, unredacted Epstein Files.” The order, generated by a voice vote in the subcommittee, allows redaction only of actual victims’ names and personally identifiable information as well as any material qualifying as child sexual abuse material.

The Department of Justice is ordered to provide all records related to Jeffrey Epstein by August 19, with any victims’ names or identifying information redacted.

Each subpoena letter references the enormous public scrutiny over the federal government’s prosecution of Epstein and Maxwell and points to the Committee’s ongoing interest in how sex-trafficking laws are enforced, with a sharp focus on the history and use of secretive non-prosecution or plea deals in high-profile sex crimes. 

The subpoenas arrive as new questions surface about the outcomes and failures of multiple overlapping federal and local investigations from 2006 to 2019, the untimely death of Epstein in federal custody, and fierce criticism of deals struck by prosecutors. The Committee has emphasized its authority under House Rules to investigate “any matter at any time,” vowing to use its findings to recommend concrete legislative solutions.

The subpoenas come in response to mounting criticism following the Justice Department’s July 7 memo, which concluded that Epstein had no “client list” and died by suicide. This memo contradicted earlier statements by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had claimed in February that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

Jeffrey Epstein was convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, specifically involving the sexual abuse of underage girls. As part of a controversial plea deal, he pleaded guilty to two state charges related to soliciting prostitution from a minor and served 13 months in jail with work release privileges. After renewed scrutiny and many civil lawsuits regarding a far larger pool of victims, Epstein was federally charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He died in jail that year while awaiting trial on those federal charges.

Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted by a federal jury in December 2021 in New York on five out of six counts for her role in facilitating and participating in Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls over a decade (1994–2004). Her convictions include:

• Sex trafficking of a minor
• Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
• Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
• Transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity
• Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors

Prosecutors proved Maxwell helped Epstein identify, recruit, groom, and exploit underage girls, sometimes as young as 14, and sometimes participated in the abuse herself. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Maxwell was recently moved from a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas. The official reason for her transfer has not been clearly stated by the Bureau of Prisons or the Justice Department, and her attorney has also declined to elaborate on the circumstances.

Normally, federal policy requires individuals convicted of sex offenses to be housed in at least low-security facilities. In Maxwell’s case, the Bureau of Prisons waived this rule, which is considered rare for sex offenders, and allowed her to be reassigned to a lower-security prison.