Former Attorney General William Barr met privately with the House Oversight Committee on Monday. The committee is looking into how the federal government handled Jeffrey Epstein’s death in jail back in 2019.
Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, said Barr is the first of several people they plan to speak with. He also said the Justice Department is expected to hand over all of Epstein’s files—without any blacked-out sections—by August 19, and talks about getting those records are going well.
As attorney general, Barr reviewed over 11 hours of jail security footage and agreed with the medical examiner’s report that Epstein died by suicide. But that conclusion is being questioned again after new jail video was released last month. Lawmakers want to ask Barr about differences between what he said in 2019 and what the new footage shows.
Even though Congress is on summer break, two Democratic lawmakers—Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia and Jasmine Crockett from Texas—attended the meeting, showing that both parties are interested in the investigation. Comer has also sent subpoenas to other former officials, including ex-President Bill Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder, to help build a clearer picture of what happened during Epstein’s time in custody.