2026-08-06T09:00:29.226Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/06/politics/epstein-congressional-probe-comer-frustrations
去年夏天，议员们启动杰弗里·爱泼斯坦调查时曾许下雄心勃勃的承诺：揭开数十年来联邦调查失败的内幕，全面公布长期被扣押的文件，并向公众交代这名已故恋童癖者为何能长期逃脱问责。
一年过去了，这场调查让爱泼斯坦持续占据新闻头条，但一系列高调证人的证词并未如许多议员和爱泼斯坦受害者幸存者所愿，带来突破性爆料。相反，这场调查的特点是闭门采访，许多证人否认知晓爱泼斯坦的罪行，或表示记不起关键细节。幸存者们指控，爱泼斯坦的一名前助理近期在委员会面前就其所知或所见内容撒谎。
这种预期与结果之间的差距，如今已成为悬在众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默调查之上的核心紧张点。
“我现在更迫切地想要取得成果，而非一事无成，”他对美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）表示。
来自肯塔基州的共和党人科默对CNN表示，他“非常有信心”，众议院监督委员会今年晚些时候向检察官提交一份“待办事项清单”后，司法部将别无选择，只能重启对爱泼斯坦的调查。
但对十余名参与调查的议员和消息人士的采访描绘了一幅复杂得多的图景。随着唐纳德·特朗普总统敦促全国放下此事，司法部持续坚称缺乏证据提起新的公诉，不满情绪正在爆发——不仅在民主党委员会成员中，共和党同僚中也有越来越多人对调查成果表示担忧。
许多证人被允许自愿作证，而非被传票强制出庭，甚至无需公开露面，这引发了批评，称与爱泼斯坦关系最密切的人因此得以脱身，尤其是那些往往能聘请到昂贵律师的人。
“你得听多少人说‘我不记得了’？说真的，这全都是狗屁，”共和党众议员南希·梅斯近日对CNN表示，“就是要讲真话，但他们做不到。大多数人，很多人都是这样。”
梅斯是监督委员会少数几名持续批评该调查的共和党人之一，也是去年少数四名推动就公布爱泼斯坦文件进行投票的共和党议员之一。其中只有科罗拉多州众议员劳伦·博伯特再次参选，有望重返国会。
乔治亚州共和党众议员里奇·麦科马克是坚定的特朗普支持者，当被CNN问及是否从委员会一系列闭门采访中学到任何新东西时，他直言不讳。“我没有，”麦科马克说，但他补充道，他不确定委员会还能做些什么来推动更大透明度或获取更多信息。
民主党人誓言，如果明年掌控众议院，将传唤证人出庭作证。委员会最高民主党议员众议员罗伯特·加西亚表示，在新一届国会中，传唤特朗普总统和第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普作证是他的首要任务之一，他指出共和党此前在2月传讯比尔·克林顿和希拉里·克林顿时已开创先例。
“看到那些在我们面前作证的男性，在某些情况下还有女性，如此厚颜无耻地撒谎，真的令人瞠目结舌，”来自亚利桑那州的民主党众议员亚萨明·安萨里说，“我认为这表明，他们非常清楚自己能够逃脱惩罚。”
为捍卫自己的策略，科默对CNN表示，传唤每一名证人出庭作证会花费过长时间。“这些人可以就传票抗辩数月之久，拖延时间，”科默说，“如果他们愿意自愿前来，就能节省大量时间。而我们正处于时间压力之下，因为本届国会即将结束，而且倒计时正在快速推进。”
据民主党众议员梅拉尼·斯坦斯伯里透露，最能说明问题的时刻之一，是证人或其律师要求不记录在案。
“通常情况下，证人会与律师商议是否回答他们愿意或不愿意回答的问题。但由于这段对话没有被录音，公众无法看到，”斯坦斯伯里说，“你甚至看不到书面记录中的空白。但几乎每一次转录的采访中，几乎每一个小时，每一位证人都会出现这种情况。”
民主党人还指责委员会中的共和党人拒绝调查特朗普在爱泼斯坦文件中被提及的内容，以及他的政府在该问题成为撕裂共和党的公关危机时，如何试图管控爱泼斯坦文件的发布。
委员会成员、共和党众议员埃里克·伯利森表示，他理解白宫为何希望摆脱爱泼斯坦事件，但仍对监督委员会的共和党人继续开展工作感到欣慰。
“他们被期望完成所有人本应在20年内完成的所有工作，”伯利森在谈到白宫时说，“与此同时，总统的所有议程、他真正的优先事项都因这一个问题而被搁置。所以我能理解，如果你是总统，会对不得不把所有时间都花在你认为无关紧要的事情上感到沮丧。”
民主党人士表示，来自总统的这种压力笼罩着整个调查。
“共和党人告诉我们，他们面临着白宫的骚扰、电话和要求，不要参与这项调查和这个话题，”斯坦斯伯里说。
夹在中间的是科默，他担任监督委员会主席的头两年一直在调查前总统乔·拜登，最终并未促成弹劾指控。科默坚称，他现在与特朗普交谈时，从未提及对爱泼斯坦的调查。
“党内可能有一些人希望停止调查，但他们知道不能来找我发号施令，所以我们会完成任务，”科默说。
尽管遭到批评，科默仍自豪地细数了调查取得的成果，包括对19名证人的采访，其中许多人此前从未被询问过与爱泼斯坦的关联。调查还促成从爱泼斯坦 estate 中释放了约128600份文件，包括此前从未公开的银行记录。
“我知道司法部曾表示此案已了结，但我非常有信心它很快就会重启，”科默对CNN表示。
爱泼斯坦调查甚至在启动前就充满波折。
去年7月司法部表示不会继续推进爱泼斯坦相关调查后，国会就在如何迫使政府公布文件问题上陷入混乱。白宫希望就此翻篇。为避免投票，众议院共和党领导人提前一周让议员们回家过暑假。
但众多共和党议员清楚，回到选区后，他们将面临选民就该问题提出的尖锐质问。而民主党人则寻求传唤司法部交出文件。据一位熟悉相关对话的消息人士透露，科默向部分共和党同僚传达了他面临白宫要求停止民主党行动的压力。另一位知情消息人士告诉CNN，委员会共和党幕僚曾警告白宫，如果就传票进行投票，共和党议员大多会投票支持透明度。
为将调查焦点从特朗普总统身上扩大，共和党人想出一个主意：除司法部外，他们还将传唤比尔·克林顿和希拉里·克林顿等一长串人物。据两位消息人士透露，宾夕法尼亚州共和党众议员斯科特·佩里提出扩大调查范围的想法，得到了梅斯以及乔治亚州共和党众议员布莱恩·杰克的支持，后者因该问题在选区面临强烈批评。第二位消息人士告诉CNN，科默从未告诉议员们该如何投票。
共和党人推迟了可能影响出席率的投票，但提出传票动议的民主党众议员萨默·李确保所有民主党同僚都推迟了旅行计划，以便到场参加投票。
“这项传票动议才是推动一切的关键，”李对CNN说。
随着众议院监督委员会牵头开展爱泼斯坦调查，众议院共和党领导层获得了数月的缓冲期，但并未平息要求采取更多行动的强烈呼声。据一位熟悉对话的消息人士透露，议员们9月返回国会后，科默召集共和党人并传达了一条信息：团结一致，保持统一。
但一个两党联盟已经形成，它推动了2025年11月通过的一项单独法案，迫使司法部公布爱泼斯坦文件。尽管面临党内巨大压力，少数共和党人加入了由共和党众议员托马斯·马西和民主党众议员罗·卡纳领导的两党推动行动。该法案没有明确的执行机制，但确实促成了超过350万页爱泼斯坦文件的公布。
调查中其他两党合作的迹象包括：梅斯牵头投票要求传唤前司法部长帕姆·邦迪，因其在监督爱泼斯坦文件发布过程中扮演的角色；共和党人呼吁采访商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克；以及少数民主党人愿意在比尔和希拉里·克林顿拒绝服从传票时，以藐视国会罪对他们提起诉讼。
第一位接受采访的证人是前司法部长比尔·巴尔，他在8月迅速配合了传票要求的作证，但到了冬季，担忧的迹象开始显现。2月对亿万富翁零售巨头莱斯·韦克斯纳进行作证时，委员会工作人员和民主党议员前往俄亥俄州。韦克斯纳长期以来被视为爱泼斯坦迅速崛起的关键人物，但采访并未带来多少新信息。
众议院调查人员对这位88岁的韦克斯纳进行了数小时的询问，但采访令一些人感到沮丧，他们认为关键问题没有得到充分追问。韦克斯纳多次否认知晓爱泼斯坦的犯罪行为，在宣誓作证时称自己被爱泼斯坦“骗了”。韦克斯纳频繁 defer 给律师，几乎未提供新细节，留下了两人关系中长期存在的疑问悬而未决。
6月连续两天的采访清晰地表明，人们的高期望与迄今为止困扰调查的严峻现实之间存在巨大差距。
共和党主导的委员会花了三个月时间才传唤到亿万富翁比尔·盖茨和爱泼斯坦的长期助理莱斯利·格罗夫。
科默在6月10日走进盖茨的采访现场时表示，他希望这次采访“富有成效”。但采访进行到一半左右时，共和党众议员蒂姆·伯切特沮丧地离场，质疑这一切的意义何在。
盖茨告诉国会，他对爱泼斯坦的罪行一无所知，他是最新一个与这名名誉扫地的金融家划清界限的人，又带来了一个死胡同。
“都是些细枝末节，”伯切特谈到现场情况时反思道，“辩护律师把一切都拿捏得死死的。”
就在前一天，科默将格罗夫描述为拥有对调查“非常有价值”信息的人。格罗夫作证称，她从未见过任何为爱泼斯坦提供按摩服务的女孩和年轻女性，也不了解她们的背景。
一些爱泼斯坦幸存者表示，格罗夫没有说实话，委员会正在辩论该采取什么行动。
对在场的许多议员来说，他们听到的证人否认次数多得令人震惊。
爱泼斯坦任职时间最长的两名雇员——他的会计师和律师——声称对爱泼斯坦的罪行一无所知。作为爱泼斯坦遗产的共同执行人，他们设立了受害者赔偿基金，该基金称在2021年结束前向符合条件的申请人发放了约1.25亿美元。最近，两人同意解决爱泼斯坦受害者提起的集体诉讼，该诉讼指控两人是爱泼斯坦性贩运行动的“帮凶”，两人强烈否认这些指控。和解协议仍需法官批准，将向受害者支付最高3500万美元。
邦迪5月自愿而非被传票传唤出席委员会作证，此后一直被解雇，她始终没有回答她和法律团队认为超出采访范围的问题。
就在最近，巴克莱银行前高管杰斯·斯塔尔声称他与爱泼斯坦并无交情，尽管他因向监管机构隐瞒与爱泼斯坦的关系而被禁止在英国金融服务业担任高级职务。
一些议员希望调查能推进得更快。但对科默来说，进度缓慢是不可避免的。
“这项调查的速度永远不会像预期的那么快，不幸的是，这就是国会的运作方式，”他说。
在能够加快调查进度的时刻，他确实这么做了。委员会迅速将爱泼斯坦长期助理指控两名男子对其实施性虐待的证词移交给了司法部。在一次闭门采访中，亿万富翁投资者莱昂·布莱克拒绝自愿配合，委员会便对其发出传票。在整个调查过程中，科默定期与爱泼斯坦受害者幸存者会面，以确定是否有证人撒谎。
共和党人正力争在年底前完成对爱泼斯坦的调查。委员会计划在9月对布莱克进行作证，推动采访艾伦·德肖维茨，并承诺传唤代理司法部长托德·布兰奇，了解他在发布爱泼斯坦文件过程中扮演的角色。
还有传言称将举行听证会，邀请爱泼斯坦虐待案的受害者作证，科默和委员会工作人员正与他们保持定期沟通。
对许多人来说，只有公布所有爱泼斯坦文件，调查才算结束。
“从很多方面来看，这才刚刚开始，”加西亚对CNN说。
至于即将在州长竞选失利后退休的梅斯，她知道自己无法在新一届国会继续参与这场斗争，但并不后悔自己全力以赴。
“我绝不会为任何事改变自己的所作所为，哪怕这会让我丢掉政治生涯，”梅斯说。
Congressional probe promised answers on Epstein. A year later, frustrations are mounting
2026-08-06T09:00:29.226Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/06/politics/epstein-congressional-probe-comer-frustrations
Last summer, when lawmakers launched their Jeffrey Epstein investigation, it came with an ambitious promise: to pull back the curtain on decades of failed federal probes, secure the full release of long-withheld files and provide a public accounting of how the late pedophile evaded accountability for so long.
A year later, the probe has kept Epstein in the headlines, but its parade of high-profile witnesses has failed to produce the kind of revelations many lawmakers and Epstein survivors had hoped for. Instead, the investigation has been defined by closed-door interviews, with many witnesses denying knowledge of Epstein’s crimes or saying they do not recall key details. Survivors have alleged that one former Epstein assistant recently lied to the committee about what she knew or saw.
That gap between expectations and results is now a central point of tension hanging over House Oversight Chairman James Comer’s probe.
“I feel more pressure to achieve something than not do something,” he told CNN.
Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told CNN that he is “very confident” the Justice Department will have no choice but to reopen its Epstein investigation after his committee sends prosecutors a “to-do list” later this year.
But interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers and sources involved with the probe paint a much more complicated picture. As President Donald Trump urges the country to move on and the Justice Department continues to insist it lacks evidence to bring new prosecutions, frustrations are boiling over— not just among Democratic committee members, but their Republican colleagues, who are increasingly voicing concern over what the probe has achieved.
Many witnesses have been allowed to appear voluntarily rather than under subpoena, or even on camera, leading to criticism that those closest to Epstein have gotten an easy out, especially those who come armed with expensive lawyers, which they often do.
“How many people do you have to hear, ‘I do not recall.’ And you know, it’s just a load of bullsh*t,” GOP Rep. Nancy Mace told CNN recently. “It’s just like, just tell the truth, and they couldn’t do it. Most of them, many of them.”
Mace has been among the few Republicans on Oversight to consistently criticize the probe and was one of just four GOP members to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files last year. Only one of them, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, is running again to return to Congress.
GOP Rep. Rich McCormick, a Georgia Republican and staunch Trump supporter, was blunt when asked recently by CNN if he has learned anything new from the panel’s series of closed-door interviews. “I haven’t,” McCormick said, but he added he wasn’t sure what else the panel could do to push for more transparency or information.
Democrats have vowed to call witnesses back in under subpoena should they take control of the House next year. The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, says interviewing President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are among his top priorities next Congress, and he argued that Republicans set the precedent when they deposed Bill and Hillary Clinton in February.
“It has been really jaw-dropping to see how the men who have come before us, and in some cases the women who have come before us, continue to lie so brazenly,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona. “I think it demonstrates that they are very much accustomed to the fact that they have gotten away with this.”
Defending his strategy, Comer told CNN it would have taken far too long to call every witness in on a subpoena. “These people can fight these subpoenas for months and months and months and months and run out the clock,” Comer said. “If they will come in voluntarily, then that saves a lot of time. And we’re on a time clock because this Congress expires and it’s rapidly approaching.”
Among the most revealing moments, according to Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury, are when witnesses or their attorneys request to go off the record.
“Generally the witness was consulting with their attorney about whether or not to answer questions they did or did not want to answer. But because that wasn’t on tape, the public doesn’t see that,” Stansbury said. “You don’t even see the gaps in the written record. But that would happen pretty much in every single (transcribed interview) in almost every hour, with every witness.”
Democrats have also called out Republicans on the panel for refusing to look at Trump’s mentions in the Epstein files or how his administration sought to micromanage release of the Epstein files as the issue became a public relations crisis that ripped through the Republican party.
GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, a committee member, said he understands why the White House has wanted to move on from Epstein but is still glad Republicans on the Oversight Committee are continuing to do the work.
“They’re expected to do all this work that everybody was supposed to be doing for 20 years,” Burlison said of the White House. “Meanwhile, all of the president’s agenda, his real priorities, are getting shelved because of this one issue. And so, I can see why if you’re the president, there’s frustration that you’re having to spend all this time on something that you think is a non-issue.”
That pressure from the president, Democrats say, overshadows the entire probe.
“Republicans have told us that they have faced harassment, phone calls, and requests from the White House to not engage on this investigation and this topic,” Stansbury said.
Stuck in the middle is Comer, who spent his first two years as Oversight chairman investigating former president Joe Biden, which did not result in impeachment charges. Comer insists when he talks to Trump now, his probe into Epstein never comes up.
“It’s probably likely there are some people in the party that would like to stop it, but they know they can’t come up to me and tell me what to do so we’re going to finish the job,” Comer said.
Despite the criticism, Comer proudly ticks off the work the probe has done, including 19 interviews, with many witnesses who have never been questioned about their ties to Epstein. It’s also secured the release of approximately 128,6000 from the Epstein estate, including never before seen bank records.
“I know the Department of Justice has said the case is closed, but I’m very confident it will be reopened very soon,” Comer told CNN.
The Epstein probe was fraught before it even began.
After the Justice Department said last July that it would not pursue further Epstein investigations, Congress was in turmoil over how to force the administration to release the files. The White House wanted to move on. To avoid a vote, House Republican leaders sent lawmakers home a week early for their summer break.
But numerous Republicans knew that back home, they’d face blistering questions over the issue. And Democrats were looking to subpoena the Justice Department for the files. Comer conveyed to some of his Republican colleagues that he was under pressure from the White House to stop the Democratic effort, according to a source familiar with the conversations. Republican committee staff had warned the White House that if brought up for a vote, Republicans would largely vote in favor of transparency, a second source familiar with the matter told CNN.
To broaden the focus beyond President Trump, Republicans devised an idea that in addition to the DOJ, they would also subpoena a long list of individuals such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, the source said. Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Scott Perry had the idea to expand the scope of the investigation, and he was backed by Mace as well as Georgia GOP Rep. Brian Jack, who was getting battered back home over the issue, according to two sources. Comer never told his members how to vote, the second source told CNN.
Republicans delayed the vote, which could have hurt attendance, but Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, who brought forward the subpoena motion, made sure all of her fellow Democrats delayed their travel plans to be there for the vote.
“That motion to subpoena is the thing that got the ball rolling,” Lee told CNN.
With the House Oversight Committee now taking point on Epstein, House GOP leadership had a few months of cover, but it didn’t quell the furor for more action. When lawmakers returned in September, Comer gathered his Republicans with a message: Be a team and stay united, according to one of the sources familiar with the conversations.
But a bipartisan coalition had been formed, one that’s been the engine that led to the separate law, passed in November 2025, compelling the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. A handful of Republicans — despite intense internal party pressure — joined a bipartisan push led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. The law didn’t have a clear enforcement mechanism, but it did result in the release of more than 3.5 million pages of Epstein files.
Other glimmers of bipartisanship in the probe have included Mace leading a vote to subpoena former Attorney General Pam Bondi for her role in overseeing the release of the Epstein files, Republicans calling for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to be interviewed, and a handful of Democrats being willing to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress if they refused to comply with their subpoenas.
The first witness to be interviewed, former Attorney General Bill Barr, complied quickly with his subpoena for a deposition in August, but by the winter, signs of concern were emerging. For billionaire retail magnet Les Wexner’s deposition in February, committee staff and Democratic lawmakers traveled to Ohio. Wexner has long been viewed as a pivotal figure in Epstein’s extraordinary rise, but the interview didn’t elicit much new information.
House investigators questioned the 88-year-old Wexner for hours, but the interview frustrated some who felt key issues were insufficiently pressed. Wexner repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct, telling lawmakers under oath he was “conned” by Epstein. Wexner frequently deferred to his attorneys, and offered few new details, leaving longstanding questions about their relationship unresolved.
Two days of back-to-back interviews in June crystalized how high expectations have been met with the crushing realities that have plagued the probe so far.
It took three months for the Republican-led panel to secure both billionaire Bill Gates and Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff.
Walking into the Gates interview on June 10, Comer said he hoped the interview would be “productive.” But about halfway through, GOP Rep. Tim Burchett walked out frustrated and wondering what the point of it all was.
Gates, who told Congress that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, was the latest to distance himself from the disgraced financier, serving up another dead end.
“It’s just the minutia,” Burchett reflected on what it was like in the room. “It’s so lawyered up.”
A day earlier, Comer framed Groff as someone who possessed information “very valuable” to the investigation. Groff testified that she never met any of the girls and young women who provided massages to Epstein and didn’t know anything about their backgrounds.
Some Epstein survivors say that Groff was not telling the truth, and the panel is debating what action to take.
For many lawmakers in the room, the number of denials they’ve heard from witnesses has been staggering.
Two of Epstein’s longest serving employees, his accountant and lawyer, claimed to have no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. As co-executors of Epstein’s estate, they set up a victims’ compensation fund, which says it distributed approximately $125 million to eligible applicants before winding down in 2021. Recently, the two agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit from Epstein victims that alleged the pair were “facilitators” in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, allegations they strongly deny. The settlement, which still needs sign-off from a judge, would pay up to $35 million to victims.
Bondi, who appeared before the panel voluntarily instead of under a subpoena in May after being fired consistently did not answer questions she and her legal team deemed outside the scope of the interview.
And most recently, former Barclays executive Jes Staley claimed he had no friendship with Epstein even though he was banned from holding senior roles in the UK financial services industry for misleading regulators about his relationship with him.
Some lawmakers have wished the probe moved faster. But to Comer, the lack of speed was unavoidable.
“The pace for this investigation is never going to be as fast as it should be because that’s unfortunately the way Congress works,” he said.
In moments where he can get the investigation to move quickly, he has. The panel quickly referred allegations from Epstein’s longtime assistant that two men sexually abused her to DOJ. During a closed-door interview, the committee subpoenaed billionaire investor Leon Black when he refused to cooperate voluntarily. Throughout the probe, Comer has been regularly meeting with Epstein survivors to determine whether any witnesses have lied.
Republicans are racing to finish their Epstein probe by year’s end. The panel has a September deposition with Black, a push to interview Alan Dershowitz, and a promise to bring in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about his role in the release of the Epstein files.
There is also talk of doing a hearing with victims of Epstein’s abuse, who Comer and committee staff are in regular communication with.
For many, the probe can’t end until all of the Epstein files are released.
“In many ways, it’s just getting started,” Garcia told CNN.
As for Mace, who is set to retire after losing her bid for governor, she knows she won’t be able to stay in the fight next Congress but doesn’t regret pushing as hard as she did.
“I would not change what I did for anything else, even if it cost me my political career,” Mace said.