House Panel Votes To Subpoena DOJ For Epstein Files

A House subcommittee has voted to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) for files related to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers into defying President Donald Trump and Republican leadership to support the action, Stephen Groves and Marr Brown reported for the Associated Press (AP).

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home a day early for the August recess in the face of an intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation. I Photo: Speaker Mike Johnson Facebook

The vote signaled an intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and pressure from his own members — sent lawmakers home a day early for the August recess.

The House Committee on Oversight also issued a subpoena Wednesday for Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and longtime associate of the late Epstein, to testify before committee officials in August.

Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Oversight Committee introduced the motion for the subpoena afternoon.

Three Republicans on the panel joined Democrats, resulting in an 8–2 vote in favor. The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said the drafting of the subpoena had begun but offered no timeline for its issuance.

“I’ve never handled a subpoena like this. This is some fascinating stuff,” said Higgins, who voted against the motion.

Democrats hailed the move as further evidence that their push for transparency in the Epstein case is gaining momentum. They also successfully blocked a Republican effort to limit the subpoena to only information deemed “credible.”