The House Oversight Committee has deepened its probe into the federal authorities’s investigation of the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, issuing a subpoena to his estate for an array of documents.
The GOP-led committee issued the subpoena to Epstein’s estate Monday, demanding a slew of documents that embody the so-called “birthday book” – a reported assortment of letters gifted to Epstein for his fiftieth birthday that included a word bearing President Donald Trump’s title. Trump has repeatedly denied writing the letter and sued The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on it, for defamation.
“Recent reporting indicates the estate of Mr. Epstein has access to documents relevant to the Committee’s investigation, including the alleged ‘birthday book’ prepared for Mr. Epstein by Ms. Maxwell,” GOP Chairman James Comer wrote in a letter to Epstein’s estate.
The committee can also be looking for Epstein’s will, all non-disclosure agreements executed by him, his monetary documents and “any document or record that could be reasonably construed to be a potential list of clients involved in sex, sex acts, or sex trafficking” facilitated by Epstein.
In a press release, Comer signaled that individuals concerned in Epstein’s estate are prepared to adjust to the subpoena. He set a deadline of September 8 for the estate at hand over the documents.
“It is our understanding that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in custody and control of documents that may further the Committee’s investigation and legislative goals. Further, it is our understanding the Estate is ready and willing to provide these documents to the Committee pursuant to a subpoena,” Comer mentioned.
NCS has reached out to representatives of the estate for remark.
The Kentucky Republican additionally introduced that the committee would sit down with Alexander Acosta, who served as secretary of the Department of Labor throughout Trump’s first time period, for a transcribed interview. During his time as US legal professional in Florida, Acosta oversaw a 2008 plea cope with Epstein.
Acosta, who served because the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, will seem voluntarily for an interview on September 19, the committee mentioned.
Acosta had been extensively criticized throughout Trump’s first time period for that plea settlement.
In 2019, then-Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for Acosta’s resignation after accusing him of getting “cut Epstein a sweetheart deal.”
The escalation of the House committee’s Epstein investigation comes after the Department of Justice handed over 1000’s of pages of Epstein-related documents to the panel final Friday. But Democrats on that panel have mentioned solely about “3 percent” have new info, together with flight logs from the Customs and Border Protection company on the situation of Epstein’s former aircraft.