WASHINGTON — A handful of Republicans are laying the groundwork to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell in the latest escalation of efforts to reveal information about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that has left the House in gridlock for days.
The House Oversight Committee approved a motion by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., to approve a subpoena of Maxwell, who was found guilty of co-conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit minor girls in 2021. The committee will now move forward to process the subpoena “as expeditiously as possible,” a spokesperson for the committee told the Deseret News.
“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 (the) Committee can depose her,” the spokesperson said.
It’s not yet clear how quickly that testimony will occur as the House is scheduled to adjourn on Wednesday for the August work period and is not expected to return until after Labor Day.
But the vote comes amid an escalating pressure campaign among Democrats and even some Republican lawmakers to release all files related to the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein.
House GOP leadership drafted a resolution last week calling for the release of the investigative materials as a way to provide Republican lawmakers with some political cover as Democrats hammer them on the subject. But that resolution is nonbinding and largely symbolic, prompting criticism from some rank-and-file members.
That anger only began to grow when House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there would not be a vote on any Epstein-related measure this week, instead saying the Trump administration needs to be given time to process credible materials for publication.
“We have a responsibility, actually a dual responsibility. I’ve been on record very quickly, but I believe in maximum transparency. I think every single House Republican will say the same thing,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “We also understand the other part of that duty is that we have to protect innocent victims.”
But that reasoning has done little to assuage some House Republicans who have warned Trump it could cost him support.
“My criticism is directed at anyone in the administration throwing out little, little pieces of red meat to get the base worked up over something, when there’s never going to be accountability,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told reporters on Tuesday. “If there’s no justice and no accountability, people are going to get sick of it. It’s like, stop telling me about crimes if we’re not going to do anything about it.”
The pressure campaign has even led to a state of paralysis after the House Rules Committee adjourned on Monday without plans to reconvene due to Democratic efforts to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files — effectively pushing their Republican colleagues into a corner.
The Rules Committee is responsible for advancing bills to the floor for consideration. Without meeting, the House can’t vote on any of the bills originally up for consideration this week related to immigration.
As a result, House GOP leaders canceled votes on Thursday, sending lawmakers home one day early for the August recess period. When they return, top Republicans hope the Epstein story will have died down — but so far, it shows no sign of slowing.
“I don’t think this issue is going away over August,” Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican lead of a discharge petition forcing the release of the Epstein files, said on Tuesday. “I think that’s his strategy and I don’t think it’s going to work. I mean people have wanted these files for years. And then, you know, the president’s staff, administration, his own children, his vice president have promised that these files would come out. And now we’re being told it’s a hoax.”
Trump has taken steps to quell the growing calls to release the Epstein files, announcing last week that he would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin unsealing grand jury testimony related to the case. Johnson said GOP leaders would give the Trump administration the next few weeks to release that information, after which lawmakers will decide whether to take further action.
Bondi announced on Tuesday that Deputy Attorney General Tom Blanche would take steps to speak with Maxwell regarding the Epstein investigation, although those efforts are separate from the House subpoena expected from the House in the coming weeks.