New Focus on Bill Clinton’s Murky Ties to Epstein After He Gets House Subpoena — the Only Male Epstein Associate To Be Summoned

The flurry of subpoenas related to Jeffrey Epstein from the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee is a dragnet targeting the highest-ranking law enforcement officials from the Biden and Trump administrations. Yet that President Clinton is the only associate of Epstein to receive a subpoena — other than Epstein’s sometime paramour and partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell — indicates a particular focus on the 42nd president. Secretary Clinton, whose name appears in litigation from one of Epstein’s victims, notably, also received a subpoena.The committee is demanding both documents and in-person depositions from the Clintons related to its investigation of Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking but whose case has recently seen a wave of activity.Also subpoenaed were two former longtime FBI directors, James Comey and Robert Mueller, and a host of former attorneys general, including William Barr and Jeff Sessions, both of whom served under President Trump during his first term in office. Both of President Obama’s attorneys general, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, were also subpoenaed, according to Fox News, which first reported the moves.Attorney General Bondi’s predecessor, Merrick Garland, was also hit with a subpoena. The committee’s moves come after Mr. Trump expressed frustration with his MAGA supporters being so preoccupied with the Epstein matter, and it’s unclear if the Oversight Committee coordinated with the White House. Speaker Johnson recently sent House members home before they could vote on a bill from some rebellious caucus members demanding release of the full “Epstein files,” whatever those may be. The Oversight Committee has also ordered the Department of Justice to hand over its Epstein files — all Epstein-related records — by August 19. In a social media post, Oversight Committee Democrats took credit for having “successfully forced this subpoena” while adding that Ms. Bondi has two weeks to release the files.In a court filing Tuesday, the justice department moved to unseal the grand jury transcripts from the investigations of both Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, adding that most of the transcripts are already part of the public record. “The enclosed, annotated transcripts show that much of the information provided during the course of the grand jury testimony—with the exception of the identities of certain victims and witnesses—was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,” the department stated in the filing.In a court filing, Ms. Maxwell’s defense attorney, David Oscar Markus, opposed the release of the grand jury records, adding that his client has not had the opportunity to review the material. “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not. Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain,” Mr. Markus writes in the filing.Mr. Markus did not respond to questions from the Sun on Tuesday. Epstein’s victims also opposed the justice department’s recent actions, asking a district court judge, Richard M. Berman, to ensure none of the names of the victims or their likenesses are included in the release of grand jury files. “The latest attention on the “Epstein Files”, the “Client List” is OUT OF CONTROL and the ones that are left to suffer are not the high-profile individuals, IT IS THE VICTIMS. Why the lack of concern in handling such sensitive information for the victims sake?” one unnamed victim writes in a court filing.Mr. Johnson expressed a similar sentiment regarding protecting victims’ identities when he explained why he was sending House members home without a vote.Both Clintons were asked to appear before the House Committee in October. Mr. Clinton had extensive contact with Epstein in the years after his presidency and flew on his jet multiple times to destinations as far flung as Siberia. Representatives of Mr. Clinton said the trips were for the former president’s charitable endeavors, including AIDS prevention. The 42nd president’s representatives deny that he ever visited Epstein’s notorious private island in the Caribbean. Mr. Trump recently claimed Mr. Clinton visited the island 28 times. Mrs. Clinton’s name recently surfaced in legal documents related to a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, a former worker for Epstein who recently committed suicide. Epstein’s close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, attended Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding a few months after dodging a deposition for Giuffre’s lawsuit.Amid the intense attention being paid to the Epstein affair, the Trump administration has pursued a parallel investigation into the Obama administration’s alleged fabrication of an intelligence assessment connecting Russia to Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign. The Epstein-related subpoenas come just one day after Ms. Bondi announced she would be launching a grand jury investigation into so-called Russia-gate. It wasn’t clear just who would be facing charges or what kind of charges they would be facing in the grand jury investigation, which is based on a criminal referral made by the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. During an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he was “happy to hear” about the launch of the grand jury investigation but denied having any involvement in it. “Pam is doing a great job. I have nothing to do with it. I will tell you this — they deserve it,” Mr. Trump said. News of the subpoenas comes after Ms. Maxwell’s two-day meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which was reportedly successful enough to prompt the Trump administration to transfer her to a minimum-security prison camp, which is often part of a step down toward a release. The Oversight Committee also agreed to delay its effort to depose Ms. Maxwell until after the Supreme Court decides to hear her petition to overturn her conviction on September 29. Mr. Comer’s probe will likely cast more sunlight on the case rather than actually result in criminal referrals and prosecutions by the justice department.“Not everybody the House Oversight Committee subpoenas ends up facing a criminal referral, let alone a conviction. Honestly, I can’t remember a time when any House Oversight Committee subpoena turned into a criminal referral, much less a conviction,” a source close to the investigation tells the Sun.“But we’re living in a different time, with a different president and a different vendetta,” the source adds.

New Focus on Bill Clinton’s Murky Ties to Epstein After He Gets House Subpoena — the Only Male Epstein Associate To Be Summoned

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