3:06House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer addresses the press as he heads into a deposition with former Attorney General Bill Barr at the U.S. Capitol on Aug 18, 2025, in Washington.Mariam Zuhaib/AP
On Monday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer delivered a fresh subpoena to Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, demanding “records and correspondence in its possession, custody, or control, in complete unredacted form,” including what is alleged to be a “birthday book” produced for the financier’s 50th birthday celebration.
In a Monday statement, Comer remarked, “We believe the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein holds documents that could advance the Committee’s inquiry and legislative aims. We are also informed the Estate is prepared and willing to supply these materials once a subpoena is issued.”
The panel set a deadline of Sept. 8, 2025, for turning over the requested records — which cover banking and financial documents. Comer noted the committee is “examining” possible “mismanagement of the federal government’s probes involving Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer speaks to reporters as he arrives for a deposition with former Attorney General Bill Barr, on Capitol Hill, Aug 18, 2025, in Washington.Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Democratic members of the House previously sought a copy of the rumored “birthday book” assembled for Epstein’s 2003 50th birthday that, according to the Wall Street Journal, contains a risqué letter from President Donald Trump.
Trump has disputed the letter’s existence and sued the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion, claiming defamation. ABC News has not independently verified the letter.
Dow Jones & Company, the publisher behind the newspaper, declared it holds “total confidence in the thoroughness and precision” of its reporting and “will fight the lawsuit with vigor.”
In a recently released transcript, Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell informed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that Epstein asked her to solicit contributions for his 50th birthday volume but said she could not remember whether Trump, then a private businessman, sent anything. During the conversation, Maxwell once again asserted her innocence.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche exits his hotel for a meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell in Tallahassee, Fla., July 25, 2025.ABC News
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury of sex-trafficking and associated offenses. She is now serving a 20-year sentence for aiding Epstein in the trafficking of minors, a scheme that revolved around recruiting underage girls for “massages” that became sexual in nature. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York maintained that Maxwell assisted Epstein in grooming and abusing girls as young as 14.
The subpoena additionally seeks any papers relating to Epstein’s bank accounts, monetary dealings, flight manifests and personal calendars ranging from Jan. 1, 1990, to Aug. 10, 2019.
Brad Edwards, counsel for more than 200 Epstein survivors, had earlier urged legislators to demand the disputed birthday book. Edwards told ABC News on Monday that the estate should be in a position to comply quickly with the subpoena.
“Jeffrey Epstein is deceased, so — after shielding any victim-identifying details — the estate can promptly hand over every document requested, without protest or postponement. Moreover, from earlier lawsuits most redactions should already have been applied,” Edwards said.
The House Oversight Committee also revealed that Alexander Acosta — former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and ex-Secretary of Labor — has agreed to a voluntary sworn interview on Sept. 19, 2025. The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility concluded in a 2020 report that Acosta had shown “poor judgment” when he ended a federal probe into Epstein with a state plea deal in 2008.
Comer indicated the committee will accept sworn statements from former attorneys general Alberto Gonzales, Eric Holder and Jeff Sessions instead of live testimony. The trio — already subpoenaed — intend to formally state they possess no relevant information on Epstein, according to Comer.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
