The Deposition
Bill Clinton became the first former president ever compelled to testify before a congressional committee under subpoena last Friday, telling House Oversight lawmakers he "saw nothing" and "did nothing wrong" during his association with Jeffrey Epstein. "No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos," Clinton said in his opening statement. "I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn't see." The closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York lasted for hours, with Clinton repeatedly invoking "I do not recall" while denying any knowledge of Epstein's crimes prior to the financier's 2008 guilty plea.
Hillary Clinton appeared the day before and denied ever meeting Epstein, calling the Republican-led probe a "cover-up" to protect Trump. The tension escalated when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) leaked a photo of Clinton during testimony to conservative media — Clinton threatened to walk out, visibly irritated as her attorney raised the breach. Top Democrat Robert Garcia immediately demanded Trump himself be deposed, citing the precedent now set.
The Revolt
But the Clinton depositions triggered something unexpected: a bipartisan rebellion against the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files. On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee voted 24-19 to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi — with five Republicans joining every Democrat present. "AG Bondi claims the DOJ has released all of the Epstein files. The record is clear: they have not," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who introduced the subpoena motion, posted on X. "Three million documents have been released, and we still don't have the full truth. Videos are missing. Audio is missing. Logs are missing."
The DOJ had been required by the near-unanimous Epstein Files Transparency Act to release all records related to Epstein, but announced it would withhold millions of pages. After NPR found dozens of pages missing, the department published additional files Thursday — including FBI memos with uncorroborated allegations against Trump that officials said "were incorrectly coded as duplicative." Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against Bondi Thursday, charging her with obstruction of Congress and "illegally withholding millions of Epstein Files."
The Expanding Investigation
Oversight Chair James Comer has now requested voluntary testimony from seven additional people, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, and Gateway founder Ted Waitt. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — Trump's pick who once lived next door to Epstein — "proactively" agreed to appear voluntarily before the committee Tuesday. Lutnick had previously misrepresented his relationship with the convicted sex offender, according to the New York Times.
Separately, a U.S. judge in New York granted preliminary approval Tuesday to a $35 million settlement requiring Epstein's estate to pay accusers who sued two of his advisers for allegedly facilitating sex trafficking. Bloomberg reported Thursday that the DEA opened an investigation into Epstein in 2015 centered on money laundering, drug trafficking and procurement of Eastern European prostitutes for high-profile clients — an investigation conducted by a secretive DEA intelligence unit that grew out of an organized crime probe.
What to Watch
Bondi's testimony date remains unscheduled, but the bipartisan coalition signals genuine political risk for the administration if the AG continues stonewalling. Gates, Black and the other high-profile figures Comer is targeting have not yet responded publicly to the voluntary interview requests. The DOJ has indicated it plans to release another batch of Epstein documents "fairly soon," according to CNBC — but members of Congress with access to unredacted versions claim the department has taken down some files already released. Conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly called Hillary Clinton's deposition "a farce," but the investigation has clearly expanded beyond partisan point-scoring into uncomfortable territory for both parties.