Berliner Abendpost - US House panel subpoenas Clintons in Epstein probe

The Clintons were among multiple former Democratic and Republican government officials -- as well as the Justice Department -- targeted by investigators in a major escalation of the controversy surrounding the investigation into the disgraced financier, who died in 2019 awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent after the Justice Department angered Trump supporters -- many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up -- when it confirmed last month that he had died by suicide and that his case was effectively closed.

The department also said Epstein had no secret "client list" -- rebuffing conspiracy theories held by Trump's far-right supporters about supposedly high-level Democratic complicity.

Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in the Republican-led Congress -- with some support from majority lawmakers -- have also been seeking a floor vote to force their release.

"By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003," Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer wrote to former president Clinton.

"During one of these trips, you were even pictured receiving a 'massage' from one of Mr. Epstein's victims.

The White House has been seeking to redirect public attention from uproar over its handling of the affair with a series of headline-grabbing announcements including baselsss claims that former president Barack Obama headed a "treasonous conspiracy" against Trump.

Epstein was a financier and friend to numerous high-profile people -- for years, including Trump -- who was convicted of sex crimes and then imprisoned pending trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls.

His 2019 prison cell death supercharged a conspiracy theory long promoted by many Trump supporters that Epstein had run an international pedophile ring and that elites wanted to make sure he never revealed their secrets.

After Trump returned to power in January, his administration promised to release Epstein case files.

- Past relationship -

Several of Trump's most effective promoters over the years -- including new FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino -- made careers of fanning the rumors about Epstein.

But when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on July 7 that she had nothing to release, Republicans were furious -- and Trump has attempted to control the scandal ever since.

Yet it has dominated headlines through the summer, showing just how hard it is for 79-year-old Trump to maintain his usual mastery of driving news agendas -- even within his fervently loyal "MAGA" base.

Things got even more complicated for him after a Wall Street Journal report that Trump had written a lewd birthday letter to Epstein in 2003. Trump denies this and has sued the Journal.

The Journal then dropped a separate story, saying Bondi had informed Trump in May that his name appeared several times in the Epstein files, even if there was no indication of wrongdoing.

The president recently raised further questions about his past relationship with Epstein when he told reporters he fell out with his former friend after Epstein "stole" female employees from the spa at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Other officials targeted by the panel include former FBI director James Comey, former special counsel Robert Mueller and ex-attorney generals Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales.

Their depositions will take place between mid-August and mid-October.

Comer also issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for records related to Epstein -- including its communications with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden and his officials.

Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his alleged crimes -- although her cooperation is considered unlikely.

C.W.Kuhn--BlnAP