As House members prepared to leave for August recess, a push to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein gained traction.
A motion from Democratic Rep. Summer Lee passed by a vote of 8-2 as a Republican-led House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the DOJ. The House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, where Lee is the ranking Democrat member, saw three Republicans, Reps. Nancy Mace, Scott Perry, and Brian Jack join their Democrat colleagues in voting for the measure.
“Lee, the ranking member on the subcommittee, made the request for the vote early on in an unrelated hearing on the topic of unaccompanied undocumented children at the border. Higgins, the subcommittee chair, postponed the vote until the end of the hearing, and it appeared to take GOP members of the panel by surprise,” Politico reported.
(Video Credit: CBS News)
A GOP source told ABC News that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) plans to sign off on the subpoena. Subcommittee Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) voted against Lee’s motion.
Earlier Wednesday, Comer issued a subpoena to Epstein’s convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement.
I have issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on August 11, 2025.
The Department of Justice is cooperating and will help facilitate the deposition at the prison. pic.twitter.com/N0J6Gul37g
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) July 23, 2025
House Speaker Mike Johnson has pushed back against Democratic efforts to compel Republicans to act on releasing the files.
“There’s no point in having a vote today because the administration is already doing everything within their power to release them,” he told reporters Wednesday. “We’re going to let that process play out.”
“We’re not going to allow the Democrats to use this for political cover,” the speaker said. “They had four years. Remember, the Biden administration held the Epstein files for four years, and not a single one of these Democrats — or anyone in Congress — made any thought about that at all.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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