WASHINGTON - Though lawmakers are on their annual one-month summer break, the controversy surrounding convicted late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein hasn’t left their minds.
Democrats and Republicans alike have been pushing for the release of all the Epstein files after a Justice Department report found that Epstein died by suicide and did not have a “client list,” despite previous suggestions by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Members of Congress from both parties say they'll force more public debate on the issue when their recess ends after Labor Day.
“The Epstein case will not be buried for decades,” Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison wrote in an Aug. 10 post on X. “We are demanding records, taking depositions, and putting officials under oath. The American people need to get the truth.”
The Epstein controversy has created a schism between President Donald Trump and his MAGA base. His supporters have pushed back on the Republican administration's attempt to close the book on Epstein after Trump and his backers helped to heighten expectations of blockbuster revelations.
Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who heads the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, subpoenaed longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell to sit for a deposition at the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Aug. 11. But Comer ended up postponing the testimony, writing in a letter to Maxwell's attorney that the House panel will wait until after the Supreme Court considers her request to overturn a sex-trafficking conviction and 20-year prison sentence.
