Latest news with #BillBarr
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-GOP National spox: 'If you're rooting against Trump that means you are rooting against America'
A 'Fox News @ Night' panel weighs in on the meeting between President Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, the impact of the crackdown on crime in Washington D.C., and Bill Barr's testimony regarding the Epstein records.
Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Justice Department to begin giving Congress files from Epstein probe: Lawmaker
Published Aug 18, 2025 • 2 minute read House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to reporters as he arrives for a deposition with former Attorney General Bill Barr, on Capitol Hill, Monday, Aug 18, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Mariam Zuhaib / AP WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has agreed to provide to Congress documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, a key House lawmaker said Monday in announcing a move that appears to avert, at least temporarily, a potential separation of powers clash. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The records are to be turned over starting Friday to the House Oversight Committee, which earlier this month issued a broad subpoena to the Justice Department about a criminal case that has long captivated public attention, recently roiled the top rungs of President Donald Trump's administration and been a consistent magnet for conspiracy theories. 'There are many records in DOJ's custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,' Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the Republican committee chair, said in a statement. 'I appreciate the Trump administration's commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A wealthy and well-connected financier, Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell weeks after his 2019 arrest in what investigators ruled a suicide. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in 2021 of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. The House committee's subpoena sought all documents and communications from the case files of Epstein and Maxwell. It also demanded records about communications between Democratic President Joe Biden's administration and the Justice Department regarding Epstein, as well as documents related to an earlier federal investigation into Epstein in Florida that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It was not clear exactly which or how many documents might be produced or whether the co-operation with Congress reflected a broader change in posture since last month, when the FBI and Justice Department abruptly announced that they would not be releasing any additional records from the Epstein investigation after determining that no 'further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.' That announcement put the Trump administration on the defensive, with officials since then scrambling both to tamp down angry questions from the president's base and also labouring to appear transparent. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell at a Florida courthouse over two days last month — though no records from those conversations have been made public — and the Justice Department has also sought to unseal grand jury transcripts in the Epstein and Maxwell cases, though so far those requests have been denied. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Monday. The House Oversight panel separately issued subpoenas to eight former law enforcement leaders as well as former Democratic president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton was among a number of luminaries acquainted with Epstein before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them. — Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report. Read More Crime Canada Canada Canada Columnists
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
House Oversight Chair says Justice Department to start providing Epstein-related records on Friday
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said in a statement on Monday that the Justice Department will start turning over records related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. This comes after the committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for the records and set a deadline of August 19. 'Officials with the Department of Justice have informed us that the Department will begin to provide Epstein-related records to the Oversight Committee this week on Friday,' Comer said. The announcement by the committee chair came the same day that former Attorney General Bill Barr appeared on Capitol Hill for a deposition by the panel about matters related to Jeffrey Epstein, the first of 10 high-profile Democratic and Republican witnesses subpoenaed by the committee to testify on the case. Many Republicans have called for more transparency surrounding the case and the release of records related to the matter – and the issue has roiled the House. Comer told reporters when he arrived that he did not expect the DOJ to meet the deadline because the department is still trying to compile the records. He said he expects to get them 'very soon.' Barr served in the top job at the Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's first term and was in the role when Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing underage girls. Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal detention facility. Barr did not speak to reporters as he arrived about an hour earlier than when he was scheduled to begin his deposition. Barr later departed the deposition without comment. During a break in the deposition, Comer told reporters that Barr testified that Epstein died by suicide and there was no foul play. Comer acknowledged that is the 'general consensus' but said, 'there was a blind spot in the cameras. It seemed like there was a lot of stuff that was there to potentially aid in a suicide.' He also said Barr testified about Trump, saying the former attorney general said he 'never had conversations with President Trump pertaining to a client list' related to Epstein and that 'he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump in any of this.' 'Democrats' goal is to try to dig up some type of dirt on President Trump. And what Attorney General Barr testified in there was that he never had conversations with President Trump pertaining to a client list. He didn't know anything about a client list. He said that he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump in any of this, and that he believed if there had been anything pertaining to President Trump, with respect to the Epstein list, that he felt like the Biden administration would have probably leaked it out.' Shortly after Epstein's death, Barr said that he was 'appalled' and 'angry' to learn of the Metropolitan Correctional Center's 'failure to adequately secure this prisoner,' and announced that the FBI and the Justice Department's internal watchdog would investigate Epstein's death. In 2023, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General issued a scathing rebuke of the Bureau of Prisons detailing multiple failures that led to Epstein's death but found no evidence to contradict the 'absence of criminality' in his death. On Monday, Democrats argued that Republicans were disingenuous with their probe into the Epstein case. 'The question is if they are truly invested in doing what's right and making sure that there's real transparency for the American people,' said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas. 'Right now, it doesn't seem like that. It seems like they are going through the motions and they want people to believe that they are digging in.' Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat of Virginia, agreed. 'I think the Democratic side is doing most of the heavy lifting. I don't think we're learning much from the questioning from the House Republicans. It doesn't seem like this is something where they are truly caring about the victims and about trying to get to the bottom of what's happening,' he said. House Speaker Mike Johnson took steps to delay until September a vote of the full House to publicly release the DOJ's Epstein files. The Louisiana has said he supports transparency in the case but wants to give the administration room to handle the matter. The Republican-led panel additionally subpoenaed nine other individuals for private depositions between August and mid-October. Those are: former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales; former FBI Director James Comey; former special counsel and FBI Director Robert Mueller III; former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton; and former President Bill Clinton.
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
House Oversight Chair says Justice Department to start providing Epstein-related records on Friday
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said in a statement on Monday that the Justice Department will start turning over records related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. This comes after the committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for the records and set a deadline of August 19. 'Officials with the Department of Justice have informed us that the Department will begin to provide Epstein-related records to the Oversight Committee this week on Friday,' Comer said. The announcement by the committee chair came the same day that former Attorney General Bill Barr appeared on Capitol Hill for a deposition by the panel about matters related to Jeffrey Epstein, the first of 10 high-profile Democratic and Republican witnesses subpoenaed by the committee to testify on the case. Many Republicans have called for more transparency surrounding the case and the release of records related to the matter – and the issue has roiled the House. Comer told reporters when he arrived that he did not expect the DOJ to meet the deadline because the department is still trying to compile the records. He said he expects to get them 'very soon.' Barr served in the top job at the Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's first term and was in the role when Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing underage girls. Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal detention facility. Barr did not speak to reporters as he arrived about an hour earlier than when he was scheduled to begin his deposition. Barr later departed the deposition without comment. During a break in the deposition, Comer told reporters that Barr testified that Epstein died by suicide and there was no foul play. Comer acknowledged that is the 'general consensus' but said, 'there was a blind spot in the cameras. It seemed like there was a lot of stuff that was there to potentially aid in a suicide.' He also said Barr testified about Trump, saying the former attorney general said he 'never had conversations with President Trump pertaining to a client list' related to Epstein and that 'he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump in any of this.' 'Democrats' goal is to try to dig up some type of dirt on President Trump. And what Attorney General Barr testified in there was that he never had conversations with President Trump pertaining to a client list. He didn't know anything about a client list. He said that he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump in any of this, and that he believed if there had been anything pertaining to President Trump, with respect to the Epstein list, that he felt like the Biden administration would have probably leaked it out.' Shortly after Epstein's death, Barr said that he was 'appalled' and 'angry' to learn of the Metropolitan Correctional Center's 'failure to adequately secure this prisoner,' and announced that the FBI and the Justice Department's internal watchdog would investigate Epstein's death. In 2023, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General issued a scathing rebuke of the Bureau of Prisons detailing multiple failures that led to Epstein's death but found no evidence to contradict the 'absence of criminality' in his death. On Monday, Democrats argued that Republicans were disingenuous with their probe into the Epstein case. 'The question is if they are truly invested in doing what's right and making sure that there's real transparency for the American people,' said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas. 'Right now, it doesn't seem like that. It seems like they are going through the motions and they want people to believe that they are digging in.' Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat of Virginia, agreed. 'I think the Democratic side is doing most of the heavy lifting. I don't think we're learning much from the questioning from the House Republicans. It doesn't seem like this is something where they are truly caring about the victims and about trying to get to the bottom of what's happening,' he said. House Speaker Mike Johnson took steps to delay until September a vote of the full House to publicly release the DOJ's Epstein files. The Louisiana has said he supports transparency in the case but wants to give the administration room to handle the matter. The Republican-led panel additionally subpoenaed nine other individuals for private depositions between August and mid-October. Those are: former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales; former FBI Director James Comey; former special counsel and FBI Director Robert Mueller III; former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton; and former President Bill Clinton.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Comer, Crockett clash over Barr's Epstein testimony as ex-Trump AG ends four-hour House grilling
Former Attorney General Bill Barr's closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee wrapped after over four hours on Monday, and lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle had very different interpretations of how it went. Reps. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., who represented committee Democrats during the staff-led sit-down, said they were left with "more questions now" than before Barr's deposition began. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the lone Republican present, said Barr "shed a lot of light" on the Epstein case and said he "answered all the questions" presented to him. Both sides only spoke with reporters partway through Barr's testimony, which began at 10 a.m. Monday. Fox News Digital witnessed him leaving roughly 30 minutes before 3 p.m. "I think the Democratic side is doing most of the heavy lifting, and I don't think we're learning much from the questioning from the House Republicans," Subramanyam said. "It doesn't seem like this is something where they are truly caring about the victims and about trying to get to the bottom of what's happening." Crockett said, "It seems like they are going through the motions, and they want people to believe that they are digging in. But at the end of the day, I don't think that we've learned anything through the Republican questioning that you couldn't find in one of the articles that most likely your outlets have printed." Comer told reporters later by contrast, "Our goal with this investigation is to be transparent." He even lauded Democrats for taking the matter "seriously," adding, "This is a bipartisan investigation, and hopefully, we'll be able to get the answers the American people want and deserve." When asked about the Democratic lawmakers' attacks on Republicans' line of questioning, however, Comer accused them of playing politics with the situation. "It's unfortunate the Democrats are trying to, it seems to me, politicize this. When you look at the basis of this, horrific crimes against young girls, and, of course, the Democrats' goal is to try to dig up some type of dirt on President Trump," Comer said. He said Republican staff were "asking a lot of tough questions" and accused Democrats of operating on a double standard. "I don't ever remember the Democrats subpoenaing a former Democrat attorney general for anything," he said. Comer accused Democrats of trying to create a "false narrative" connecting Trump and Epstein, after Subramanyam floated the possibility of a "cover-up" by Trump and his allies. "This is a serious investigation. This is a sincere investigation. I hope this will be a bipartisan investigation. I would encourage my Democrat colleagues not to politicize this," Comer said. "I think General Barr answered a lot of questions that probably burst their bubble with respect to, he had never communicated with President Trump on a potential Epstein list or anything else. And he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump." Barr arrived on Capitol Hill nearly an hour before his scheduled deposition, only quipping that the "early bird gets the worm" in response to a flurry of reporter questions. He was similarly soft-spoken on his way out, even as Fox News Digital and others questioned what he told House investigators. Barr only said "absolutely" when asked if he had a good conversation Monday. A source familiar with his deposition told Fox News Digital that Barr "made clear that President Trump never provided any views or instructions related to the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein or his death, and that he never saw any evidence suggesting President Trump committed a crime." "He further stated that he believed the Biden Department of Justice would have released any incriminating evidence against President Trump if such evidence existed," said the source, who described Barr as "cooperative." Barr is the first of several people who were subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee after Republicans and Democrats voted to direct Comer to open the probe last month. Several other former attorneys general, ex-FBI directors, and even former First Couple Bill and Hillary Clinton were also subpoenaed. Fox News Digital reached out to Barr's lawyer for comment but did not immediately hear back.
