WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Bill Barr shared “new” details about the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — and his death in federal custody before heading to trial — during a deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Monday, according to the panel’s chairman.
Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) divulged to reporters that Barr’s testimony to House lawmakers and committee staff had revealed “a lot” on the odd circumstances surrounding Epstein’s federal prosecution and suicide.
“We asked a lot of questions about the, you know, the suicide,” Comer said, noting the “general consensus” among Barr, FBI Director Kash Patel, independent medical experts and federal investigations is that the disgraced financier took his own life in a Manhattan lockup on Aug. 10, 2019.
The Oversight chairman added that he personally had “no idea” whether Epstein, 66, killed himself.
“There were blind spots in the in the cameras,” Comer said. “It’s unfortunate … there weren’t people in there watching because this is such a high-profile case. … I’m very disappointed in the security.
“We’ve learned some new things pertaining to different aspects of it, but we’ve got a lot of people to depose, and we’ll release all the transcripts once we get through,” he added.
A source familiar with the deposition told The Post that Barr testified he wasn’t aware of any missing footage on cameras at the Manhattan detention center where Epstein was found dead — despite critics pointing to nearly three minutes being cut in a video released by the Department of Justice last month.
Barr affirmed an FBI-DOJ assessment provided in a memo last month on the absence of any so-called “client list” that Epstein allegedly kept of rich and powerful associates potentially implicated in his sickening crimes, Comer said.
The former AG also denied having ever discussed the client list with Trump and suggested that if the 45th president had been involved in Epstein’s trafficking network, former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department would’ve leaked any association.
In addition to Barr, Attorney General Pam Bondi was subpoenaed for records related to the government’s prosecutions of Epstein, his now-convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and a non-prosecution agreement stemming from an earlier state case against the disgraced financier in the mid-2000s.
That agreement was overseen by then-Miami US Attorney Alex Acosta, later Trump’s Labor secretary during his first administration, and Democratic lawmakers said that they’d like to issue him a subpoena as well.
Reps. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told reporters that the Oversight panel should seek testimony from Acosta on Epstein’s prosecution.
“We have more questions now than we did going in — and we want more answers and more people to talk to,” said Subramanyam.
Barr was one of nearly a dozen former federal officials issued a subpoena by the Oversight panel — including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, attorneys general stretching from Biden’s term to the administration of George W. Bush and two former FBI directors.
Asked about their newfound focus on Epstein after nearly five years of silence, the Dems noted that Trump had campaigned on the issue of releasing information on the deceased sex criminal to the public.
“Listen, this is a promise, I will tell you, that was not made by Kamala Harris. It’s not a promise that was made by Joe Biden. This was a promise that was made by Donald Trump,” Crockett said.
“We’ll bring in everyone that we think can add information to the investigation,” added Comer.
“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.”
In a statement after the deposition, Comer also said, “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.”
“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,” he also said.
“I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.”
