Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary subpoenaed to testify in congressional Epstein investigation

BBCNews – Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are among high-profile figures to be sent legal summonses from a congressional committee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Republican James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued the subpoenas to the Clintons and eight other individuals.

The committee is seeking information about Epstein’s history, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided against releasing more federal files on the dead financier.

That decision sparked outrage among Trump supporters and some Democrats, who refused to accept the justice department’s statement that there was no “incriminating client list” in the Epstein files.

Amid a rift between Trump and some of his supporters on Epstein, the committee, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, recently voted to issue the subpoenas.

The panel has also subpoenaed the justice department itself for records related to Epstein.

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, had indicated she was willing to testify before the powerful investigatory committee, with strict legal protections. Her scheduled 11 August deposition, though, has been postponed indefinitely.

The Epstein legal saga has spanned two decades, with Florida police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation first scrutinising the well-connected tycoon for allegations of sexual abuse in the early 2000s.