Epstein case: Clintons summoned to appear before US Congress

Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton were among the high-profile figures to receive a subpoena to appear before the US Congress on Tuesday at the request of the powerful House Oversight Committee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC reports.

“In the last 200 years, only four other former presidents have received subpoenas from congressional committees, and only two have testified,” the British broadcaster observes.

Hillary Clinton is summoned on October 9, and her husband five days later. But "subpoenas often constitute the starting point for negotiations" in Congress and "are sometimes postponed" or "contested," depending on the "political and legal" uncertainties surrounding Congressional investigations, CNN points out.

The bipartisan commission, with a Republican majority, "targeted" the Clintons for "their proven association" with Mr. Epstein, explains the American channel: "By your own admission, you traveled on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane four times in 2002 and 2003," states the letter addressed to Bill Clinton by James Comer, the head of the commission.

“You were also allegedly close to [Mr. Epstein's former partner and accomplice, Ghislaine] Maxwell, and attended an intimate dinner with her in 2014, three years after public information about her involvement in Mr. Epstein's child sexual abuse,” the letter further added.

As for Hillary Clinton, she has been summoned to provide explanations to parliamentarians on "the hiring of Maxwell's nephew for her 2008 campaign," the channel specifies.

In addition to the Clintons, the committee summoned six former attorney generals, two former FBI chiefs, and – as a legal entity – the current Justice Department, which was ordered to turn over the “complete, unredacted Epstein files […] no later than August 19, 2025,” NBC News reports.

“If the Justice Department fails to meet that deadline, it could trigger a high-profile clash between the Trump administration and Congress over an issue that deeply divides Republicans,” the New York Times analyzes.

“In total, Comer has issued 11 subpoenas seeking documents and testimony spanning two decades of prior investigations into Epstein,” summarizes the Washington Post . “His demands only increase pressure on the Trump administration, which is struggling to contain the backlash over its refusal to release documents related to those earlier investigations,” the headline adds.

“Donald Trump is currently trying to limit the consequences of his decision not to release government files on Epstein, despite repeated promises during his campaign,” confirms the National Review .

The conservative magazine points out that the Justice Department published a memo last month stating that a systematic review had revealed the absence of an incriminating "client list . " "No credible evidence has been found that Epstein blackmailed prominent figures in the course of his activities. We have not discovered evidence that would allow us to open an investigation against unindicted third parties," the department stated.

Whatever happens in the end , the commission's simple decision to send these subpoenas "intensifies the bipartisan scrutiny of the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein case and signals a renewed interest in possible links to high-ranking figures," Newsweek judges.