Congress

‘This is just the beginning’: 1 year in, there’s no end in sight for Congress’ Epstein probe

Published

3 weeks ago

July 9, 2026

The House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation will hit the one-year mark later this month, and the saga isn’t ending anytime soon.

No matter which party ends up in control in the next Congress, the Oversight panel will remain under pressure to continue to investigate the late convicted sex offender and the web of power players who may have been complicit in his crimes.

Democrats are making clear that they view the committee’s work under Republican leadership as incomplete and that the Epstein case will be central to their oversight of President Donald Trump’s administration if they win the majority in the midterms.

“This is just the beginning,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, an Oversight Democrat, said in an interview. “I believe this is the administration’s Watergate. I think that it’s clear that they are complicit in covering crimes and shielding the president from accountability and evading the law, and so I’d like to see all of them in front of the committee under oath.”

Republicans, meanwhile, say that the public’s appetite for answers in the Epstein case won’t be satiated no matter what new details the panel unearths.

“People are never satisfied with the congressional investigation throughout history,” said Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky, who, due to GOP term limits, will no longer be the panel’s top Republican in the next Congress.

While he had hoped to wrap up interviews by the August recess, Comer added, “It’s probably going to be hard because it seems like … after every deposition we get another name or two that we need to talk to.”

That means the congressional Epstein probe could continue for the foreseeable future, not only out of hopes of finding a smoking gun but also because the political incentives to keep investigating — for Democrats as well as Republicans — are impossible to resist.

The panel has interviewed more than a dozen people, and none so far have shared any new information culminating in criminal charges. But the panel has made history by making a host of powerful people answer for their willful association with a convicted sex offender — among them Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the billionaire investor Leon Black and tech mogul and philanthropist Bill Gates. Black and Gates both admitted to knowing about Epstein’s criminal history, at least in part, while continuing to associate with him.

There have been some other revelations, too. Sarah Kellen, a former Epstein assistant, gave lawmakers the names of two men potentially implicated in Epstein’s misdeeds: Hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai and former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine, who both have denied wrongdoing.

Black, in the middle of his transcribed interview, was slapped with subpoenas that will force him to reappear and hand over nondisclosure agreements that could be tied to Epstein.

And ousted former Attorney General Pam Bondi underscored the extent to which her then-deputy, Todd Blanche, led the Justice Department’s haphazard release of the Epstein files after Congress forced the department’s hand last fall. Blanche — now the acting attorney general vying to lead the DOJ permanently — is expected to be heavily questioned about the matter at his Senate confirmation hearing next week, and House Oversight could separately call him in to speak with the panel in the coming weeks.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who is poised to become Oversight chair next year if Democrats sweep the fall elections, noted the ongoing investigation has also set a new precedent: The panel’s decision earlier this year to compel the sworn testimony of former President Bill Clinton, he said, could pave the way for subpoenaing other commanders-in-chief.

That includes Trump, who has drawn scrutiny for his own relationship with Epstein. Democrats have argued the administration has concealed the extent of that relationship, but Trump has maintained that he and Epstein had a falling-out long before Epstein’s death by suicide behind bars in 2019. The president has not been charged with wrongdoing.

There are, however, clear limits to what Congress can do to bring people to account. Already, committee Republicans have recommended that the Justice Department investigate allegations against Fekkai and Levine.

In a statement, a DOJ official confirmed the department had received the recommendation from the committee, and the FBI was looking into it.

“The allegations Kellen made in her interview to Oversight included names of purported perpetrators that she apparently did not raise in her FBI interviews during the course of the investigations into Epstein and Maxwell,” the official said. “The FBI is in the process of confirming that. If, during the course of their review, FBI encounters of evidence of a federal crime, they will investigate that matter.”

Comer hinted that the House Oversight Committee would pursue criminal referrals to the DOJ, too: “We believe there are people that deserve to be prosecuted, and we’re going to do everything in our ability to see that happen. I promised the survivors that.”

Garcia said some witnesses who came to testify voluntarily and were not sworn in under oath would, in a Democratic majority, be called back again to give formal depositions, such as Bondi. Committee Democrats have also expressed an interest in subpoenaing testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel as they explore not just Epstein’s network of associates but the federal government’s uneven handling of the matter.

The Epstein probe will not be over, Garcia pledged, “until they release all the files and until … ideally, criminal convictions out of the DOJ.”

But any referrals would be merely advisory — only the Trump administration can decide who to target with federal charges. It’s also highly unlikely that a sitting president could be compelled to participate in the committee’s Epstein probe through a subpoena.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) suggested that the House effort was only serving to provide cover for the Justice Department to avoid accountability.

“Frankly, bringing all these people in is still part of the charade and the diversion from what should happen, which is, the DOJ should bring charges against people for whom there’s credible evidence,” Massie, who lost his reelection primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said in an interview. “Everything that happens in Oversight is just a part of trying to shellac over the whole thing.”

Massie teamed up last year with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to force a vote on legislation requiring the Justice Department to make public all the Epstein materials in its possession. The Trump White House sought to block the measure, and with Republicans not wanting to disobey their president or alienate their base clamoring for transparency, Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House home rather than keep members in town to writhe amid the uproar.

But before lawmakers departed, Democrats forced a surprise bipartisan vote during an Oversight subcommittee hearing compelling the Justice Department to turn over the Epstein files to Congress. That vote launched the Epstein probe at a time when the DOJ was still refusing to cooperate fully on its own — a shift that took place in November, when Trump finally relented and allowed Congress to pass Massie and Khanna’s Epstein Files Transparency Act with near-unanimous support.

Since that time, the rollout of the files has been full of mistakes, including botched disclosures of victim information and excessive redactions. Lawmakers of both parties argue the DOJ has not fully complied with the law.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), another Oversight Committee member, said he didn’t know how the Epstein investigation would end but wasn’t optimistic there would be a satisfying conclusion.

“This town moves — I mean, glaciers run past us,” Burchett said. “We’ve been studying the Kennedy assassination, and we’re still getting information on it. … I don’t have a lot of faith in the system. I don’t care who’s in charge. I think that the sewer is too deep.”

Congress

Trump puts his ‘anti-weaponization fund’ back on the table

Published

8 hours ago

August 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump said early Saturday he would push to get the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” codified into law if the Senate does not confirm his attorney general pick, Todd Blanche.

The fund has emerged as a key issue stalling Blanche’s confirmation, with Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who are both departing the Senate after the midterms, withholding their support in the Senate Judiciary Committee unless the White House commits to shelving the proposal in writing.

Now, Trump says the fund is back on the table, and maybe he’ll even keep Blanche on in an acting capacity if he can’t get his way in Congress next week.

“If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn’t Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren’t going to approve Todd Blanche, one of the most respected professionals, according to everybody, in the Country, to be the United States Attorney General, then I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED,” he wrote.

“Todd Blanche was a voice of reason!” Trump wrote. “It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done.”

The missive comes a day after Trump reluctantly declared the fund “dead” in a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, making Saturday’s post a notable reversal in tactics as he moves from a negotiating posture to digging his heels in.

The fund stems from a settlement negotiated earlier this year that envisioned roughly $1.8 billion being doled out in payments to people who claimed they were unfairly targeted by the federal government during the Biden administration, which could include everyone from people who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and assaulted police officers to Hunter Biden.

The Justice Department has since indicated it does not intend to move forward with the payments, with Blanche testifying before a congressional committee in June, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.”

But Tillis on Saturday wrote that the president’s latest social media barb was proof that he “clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against.”

“It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal,” the two-term North Carolina senator wrote.

But he teased that a deal may not yet be out of reach: “Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday.”

Congress

‘Platner on steroids’: Max Miller abuse claims have Republicans silently sweating

Published

9 hours ago

August 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Public scrutiny of domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller is quickly mounting. His Republican colleagues have been slow to respond.

New reporting on government documents claiming that Miller poured hot water on his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, held a gun to her head and broke their young daughter’s collarbone has brought a wave of new attention to the Ohio lawmaker’s long-running public marital dispute. This week, Moreno’s lawyer filed for a restraining order against Miller, accusing him of harassing his ex-wife’s counsel.

The surge of attention presents a dilemma for Republicans: speak out against their colleague who is running in a competitive race or face accusations of hypocrisy after hammering multiple similarly scandal-plagued Democrats — including Graham Platner, who recently ended his Maine Senate campaign, and Eric Swalwell, who resigned his House seat in April.

Miller, like Platner and Swalwell, denies any wrongdoing. And so far, those fellow Republicans have been largely silent. A host of prominent GOP leaders nationally and in Ohio either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries from Blue Light News.

Keeping quiet and hoping for the best could be a risky strategy. Nonpartisan handicappers at the Cook Political Report have already upped Democrats’ chances to take the Cleveland-area seat, and House Democratic campaign brass is bullish about Miller’s opponent, ironworker Brian Poindexter, who has for months raised the abuse claims against the incumbent.

“These are serious allegations and deserve the full attention of law enforcement,” Poindexter said in a statement this week. “If all the allegations against Congressman Miller prove to be true, Max Miller should be in jail, not worried about retaining a seat in Congress.”

Moreno and Miller, seen arriving for Miller's orientation as a House member in November 2022.

Even before the latest allegations were published by Mother Jones, which have not been independently confirmed by Blue Light News, Miller sued his ex-wife and her legal team for defamation. He argued that they made “false, malicious, and defamatory statements wrongly accusing [him] of being a violent and abusive husband and father.”

Miller’s campaign spokesperson said in a statement “this narrative has gone on long enough.”

“The facts speak for themselves: the court has continued to permit him joint custody of his child. If there were credible evidence supporting these outrageous accusations, that simply would not be the case,” the spokesperson, Abigail Angelos, said. “Congressman Miller will continue to vigorously defend his reputation against false and reckless allegations designed to inflame public opinion rather than reflect reality.”

A spokesperson for Moreno, Stefan Mychajliw, referred to the recent restraining order filing said in a statement: “There is a demonstrable pattern of repeated violent and dangerous behavior and the filing speaks for itself.”

Republicans are approaching a potential make-or-break moment next week: Aug. 5 is the last day to replace Miller on the ballot, and at least some in the party are quietly raising alarms with the House majority potentially teetering on just a few competitive seats.

One GOP operative granted anonymity to speak candidly accused some fellow Republicans of “burying their heads in the sand” and called the situation “Graham Platner on steroids.”

“What happens when Democrats run ad after ad targeting GOP voters about Miller abusing the daughter of a pro-Trump MAGA senator?” the person said. “What does that do to GOP turnout? How does that affect our candidates at the top of the ticket who are already in tough races?”

Moreno is the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who has said little about the unfolding legal battle.

“Senator Moreno’s top priority is the safety and well-being of his daughter and granddaughter. While he does not litigate these matters in the media or respond to baseless public attacks, he will do whatever it takes to ensure a just outcome for his family,” Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for the senator, said.

Miller has enjoyed close relationships with fellow House Republicans, including Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Other prominent Ohio Republicans also did not respond to requests for comment made through spokespeople, including Sen. Jon Husted, governor nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and Vice President JD Vance.

Before Miller’s election to Congress in 2022, he worked for President Donald Trump doing advance work. He is a mainstay of the MAGA universe, with deep personal ties to many of his House GOP colleagues — despite his outspoken criticism of Speaker Mike Johnson. Miller also previously faced accusations from former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, which he has denied through an attorney.

The drumbeat of allegations about Miller has put some of his House colleagues in an awkward position. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said she knows both Miller and Moreno “personally,” noting that she had a joint baby shower with Moreno hosted by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“What I hate about this entire situation is that these articles the press are putting out have been very nasty especially with accusations and it is only hurting one person… their daughter. I do not know Max to be a violent person and have only ever found him to be incredibly kind and honorable,” Luna said in a text message.

She added, “I will also not disparage Emily. She comes from a wonderful family and Senator Moreno is one of the best in the Senate. I think this divorce has been incredibly painful for both parties involved and would ask the press to consider those facts.”

One Republican lawmaker, outgoing Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, called the allegations against Miller “horrific.”

“They must be investigated, and if true, he should resign immediately,” she said in a statement.

Several Democrats, including the leadership of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, have also said that the House Ethics Committee must open an investigation into Miller.

“The recent reports of domestic violence and child abuse against Representative Max Miller are deeply disturbing and Congress can’t ignore them,” the leaders of the caucus, Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, Emilia Sykes of Ohio and Hillary Scholten of Michigan, said in a joint statement. “Allegations of violence against women and children have to be met with the utmost seriousness.”

Johnson has also deferred to the Ethics Committee, which has not announced any action regarding Miller. The independent Office of Congressional Conduct also declined to comment on the allegations and whether they would be investigating it.

Miller came to prominence as a White House aide during Trump's first term.

The speaker was asked last week why Republicans allow Miller and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, who has also faced domestic abuse allegations, in their conference— especially after Democrats dumped Platner following a sexual assault accusation first reported by Blue Light News. Mills, like Miller, has denied wrongdoing.

Johnson responded that “the key word there is allegation.”

“We have a process here,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference. “I’m not in the business of commenting on investigations as they’re in process, and we’ll see how that shakes out.”

But waiting for the results of a potentially years-long Ethics investigation might not cut it for Republicans who are under 100 days out from the midterms. The abuse allegations have handed Democrats an emotional campaign talking point, and created difficult questions for Miller’s fellow Republicans.

Rep. Jim Jordan, perhaps the most prominent Ohio Republican in Congress, brushed off questions about Miller during a Thursday CNN interview, calling it a “family matter.”

“I know Max is a good man. I was up campaigning for him, I hope he wins reelection,” Jordan said in the interview. “He’s done a good job as a member of Congress, and we should all pray for his family. These are all difficult times that they’re going through, we understand that. These kinds of situations always are.”

The GOP operative said Republicans “can expect a lot more awkward moments like Jim Jordan on BLN so long as Miller is serving in Congress.”

House Majority PAC, a well-financed super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, isn’t shying from the situation. Already the PAC has spent over $1 million in the Cleveland media market, and spokesperson CJ Warnke said HMP is “willing to do whatever it takes to take back the House, and nothing is off the table.”

“Democrats are expanding the map deeper into Trump territory by the day, and Brian Poindexter will defeat the scandal plagued Max Miller,” he said.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Blanche vote is rescheduled, but there’s no deal

Published

20 hours ago

August 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.

The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.

There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.

Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.

Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”

“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.

“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”