Republicans in the House want to hear from Jeffrey Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell amid MAGA outrage over the handling of the case by the Trump administration.
The House Oversight Committee is moving forward with subpoenaing Maxwell. The legal move was revealed on the day the Justice Department also confirmed it plans to talk to the imprisoned socialite.
Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett is leading the House charge to hear from Maxwell.
According to a spokesperson with the committee, he sent a letter to Chairman James Comer requesting the subpoena, and Comer directed him to introduce a motion for one to get her deposition.
In an X post on Tuesday, Burchett wrote, “It’s about to get real. I just did this.” with an image of him moving to authorize the Maxwell subpoena.
“The Committee will seek to subpoena Ms. Maxwell as expeditiously as possible,” a committee spokesperson said. “Since Ms. Maxwell is in federal prison, the Committee will work with the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to identify a date when Committee can depose her.”
While some Republicans are invested in engaging in the Epstein case, House Republican leaders are scrambling to move on.
They cancelled votes on Thursday as work in the House ground to a halt amid pressure to call for a vote to release the Epstein files.
Instead, the House will be heading out on August recess on Wednesday and will not return to Washington for more than a month.
Speaker Mike Johnson has said that the Trump administration should have more time to produce the files, rejecting a plan for the House to take a vote.
The Speaker insisted that it was Democrats who were fueling the Epstein outrage and push for more information, but some of President Donald Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill are among those calling for a vote.
If the resolution to release the files makes it to the floor for a vote when lawmakers return in September, it appears likely to pass.
News of the Maxwell subpoena comes as top officials at the Justice Department said on Tuesday that they were also looking to hear from Epstein’s convicted accomplice, who was found guilty of sex trafficking in 2021.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a statement from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in which he said the department does not “shy away from uncomfortable truths.”
“If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said. “Therefore, at the direction of Attorney General Bondi, I have communicated with counsel for Ms. Maxwell to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the Department.”
The deputy attorney general said he anticipates a meeting with Maxwell in the coming days.
