By Barry GREY

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The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Department of Justice (DOJ) August 5 to provide it with the investigative files on the late multi-millionaire financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It issued 10 additional subpoenas and set dates for the depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton, two former FBI directors and six former attorneys general.

The move promises to intensify the crisis of the Trump administration and the entire political system over the cover-up of Epstein’s far-flung sex ring, which abused hundreds of underage girls, and the likely involvement of high-profile businessmen, celebrities and politicians of both parties. Epstein, who socialized with Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and other political figures in the ruling class, was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was officially ruled a suicide.

Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in federal prison after being tried and convicted for sex crimes, including trafficking, conspiracy and transporting minors for the purpose of illegal sexual activity.

Trump pledged during his 2024 election campaign to release the FBI files on Epstein, claiming they were being withheld from the public to protect Democrats implicated in the sex ring. But on July 7, after informing Trump that he was named multiple times in the files, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the files contained no further revelations about Epstein’s clients or his supposed suicide and they would not be released. This was a direct reversal of a statement she made in February when she promised to release the files imminently.

This enraged sections of Trump’s MAGA base and put congressional Republicans under pressure to oppose the decision of the Trump administration. Those subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (Republican-Kentucky), in addition to the Clintons, include former FBI directors James Comey and Robert Mueller, and former attorneys general Merrick Garland, William Barr, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales. These individuals held office under Republican as well as Democratic administrations, including Trump’s first term.

The committee ordered the FBI files to be turned over by August 19 and set deposition dates for those subpoenaed between August 18 and October 14, with the final depositions to be those of Hillary and Bill Clinton.

By subpoenaing the Clintons, Comer signaled that the Republicans hope to place the spotlight in the Epstein scandal on the Democrats, while exonerating Trump. Both, in fact, had frequent interactions with Epstein and could hardly have been unaware of his sex-trafficking operation involving underage girls. Both sent greetings to Epstein on his 50th birthday, including a message from Trump that included the outline of a naked woman. According to flight logs, both flew multiple times on Epstein’s private jet. Epstein was member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club until 2007, and Clinton visited Epstein’s Manhattan residence at least once.

The Republican effort to put the onus on the Democrats is further indicated by the extraordinary treatment of Ghislaine Maxwell by the Trump administration. Last month, the deputy attorney general and former personal lawyer of Trump, Todd Blanche, met privately for two days with Maxwell for the supposed purpose of extracting new information from her about Epstein. The White House is reportedly considering releasing either a video of the interview or a transcript, or both.

Shortly after the interview, Maxwell was suddenly and without explanation moved from the low security prison in Tallahassee, Florida where she had been held to a minimum security women’s prison in Texas that is known as “Club Fed.” The facility houses non-violent prisoners, in dormitory rooms with no bars and a low-profile presence of guards. The transfer of a convicted sex trafficker of underage girls to such a facility has been described as extraordinary and unprecedented.

On Wednesday, the media widely reported a “leak” from an unnamed source concerning Blanche’s interview that had Maxwell telling Trump’s emissary she never saw Trump do anything that would “cause concern.”

For his part, Trump has not ruled out granting Maxwell as pardon.

In what may very well be a shot across the bow of the Democrats, Maxwell’s lawyer David Oskar Markus said following the meetings with Blanche: “She was asked about maybe about 100 different people. She answered questions about everybody and she didn’t hold anything back.”

Original article:  www.wsws.org