House Oversight Committee Requests Testimony from Seven Individuals on Epstein Ties

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has requested that seven individuals, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, testify regarding their ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The committee's investigation aims to review the alleged mismanagement of federal investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as potential ethics violations related to elected officials.

The seven individuals asked to testify are Bill Gates, Lesley Groff (a former longtime executive assistant to Epstein), Sarah Kellen (another former Epstein employee), Kathryn Ruemmler (former White House counsel to Barack Obama), Leon Black, Doug Band (a longtime personal aide and counselor to former President Bill Clinton), and tech billionaire Ted Waitt. The testimony dates range from April 16 to June 9.

Committee Chairman James Comer stated that the recipients have information that will assist in the investigation. According to multiple reports, Gates has indicated his intention to testify before the committee. A spokesperson for Gates said he welcomes the opportunity to appear and support their important work, emphasizing that he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein's illegal conduct.

Kathryn Ruemmler also welcomed the opportunity to appear before the committee. Her spokesperson noted that she was a practicing criminal defense attorney at the time of her interactions with Epstein and shared a client with him. She has denied any knowledge of his ongoing criminal activity. Leon Black, who paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work, expressed his willingness to answer the committee's questions.

The House requests come after the Justice Department began releasing millions of files related to its decades-long investigation into Epstein. These files have revealed Epstein's deep connections to powerful figures in finance, politics, and business. The released documents include emails, photographs, and other records that prompted congressional investigators to seek testimony from several people who previously interacted with him.

The committee's investigation is part of a broader effort to understand the extent of Epstein's influence and the potential involvement of high-profile individuals in his activities. The depositions are expected to provide further insights into the relationships between Epstein and these prominent figures, as well as the handling of federal investigations into his crimes.

The US justice department released additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, including FBI memos describing interviews with a woman who made uncorroborated allegations against Epstein and Donald Trump. The documents were not included in the justice department’s earlier releases of Epstein-related records, which began in December. Justice department officials have said the files were initially withheld because they were mistakenly categorized as duplicates.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein or any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity. The materials released on Thursday describe a series of FBI interviews conducted in 2019 with a woman who alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by Epstein, and by Trump, in the 1980s, when she was a minor. The woman had contacted the FBI shortly after Epstein’s 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.

Her allegations have not been verified, and the FBI never brought charges related to her claims. In a statement to the Guardian, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the woman’s allegations “completely baseless” and said that they are “backed by zero credible evidence”. The new release comes as Democrats last week launched an investigation into whether the justice department had intentionally withheld materials in its releases of the Epstein files related to allegations involving Trump.

The Justice Department has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld. They include 16 new pages that cover three additional FBI interview summaries with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor. Also included are two pages of an intake form documenting the initial call to the FBI from a friend who relayed the claims.

NPR's investigation previously found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public database. Now that these documents are published, there are still 37 pages of records missing from the public database, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records. The Justice Department has repeatedly told NPR that any documents withheld were 'privileged, are duplicates or relate to an ongoing federal investigation.'

The interview documents are part of more than 1,000 new pages published to the Epstein files public database Thursday that also include what appears to be the complete case file from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell initiated in 2006. The new documents go into more detail about the allegations made against both Trump and Epstein when the woman was between 13 to 15 years old.

An FBI email summarizing the claims and a Justice Department PowerPoint slide deck note the woman claimed that around 1983, when she was around 13 years old, Epstein introduced her to Trump, 'who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis which she subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out.' The new files do not shed any more light on how credible federal investigators viewed her claims or how they were resolved.

Still unanswered is why the allegations were included in a Justice Department slide presentation last year summarizing the cases against Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. The White House and Justice Department have warned that the raw files released to the public include 'untrue and sensationalist claims.'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to NPR Friday that Trump has been 'totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein files.' Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have demanded answers from the Justice Department regarding the missing files and the department's handling of the release of Epstein documents.