The US House Oversight Committee on Tuesday subpoenaed former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for testimony on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to letters posted on its website.
The Clintons were among multiple former government officials, including two of President Donald Trump's attorneys general from his first term, summoned by investigators in a major escalation of the controversy surrounding the investigation into the disgraced financier, who died in 2019 awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent after the Justice Department angered Trump supporters, many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up, when it confirmed last month that he had died by suicide and that his case was effectively closed.
The department also said Epstein had no secret "client list," rebuffing conspiracy theories held by Trump's far-right supporters about supposedly high-level Democratic complicity.
Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in the Republican-led Congress, with some support from majority lawmakers, have also been seeking a floor vote to force their release.
"By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003," committee chairman James Comer wrote to former president Clinton.
"During one of these trips, you were even pictured receiving a 'massage' from one of Mr. Epstein's victims.
"It has also been claimed that you pressured Vanity Fair not to publish sex trafficking allegations against your 'good friend,' Mr. Epstein, and there are conflicting reports about whether you ever visited Mr. Epstein's island."
Other officials targeted by the panel include former FBI director James Comey, former special counsel Robert Mueller and ex-attorney generals Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales.
Their depositions will take place between mid-August and mid-October.
Comer also issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for records related to Epstein, including its communications with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden and his officials.
House Oversight Committee Democrats, backed by some Republicans, approved a subpoena in July for the Justice Department to hand over documents.
Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his alleged crimes, although her cooperation is seen as unlikely.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's justices are expected to consider at a September 29 conference ahead of their October term whether to hear an appeal by Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction.
AFP
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