House Republicans are planning to subpoena the DOJ for the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, after a congressional panel approved the move Wednesday.
The House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, which is led by Republicans, approved the motion from Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) in a 8-2 vote.
The measure divided Republicans. Reps. Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack joined with Democrats to support it. Reps. Andy Biggs and Clay Higgins voted against it.
A spokesperson for House Oversight Chair James Comer said the chamber’s rules demand that the subpoena now be issued.
Lee, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, made the request for the vote early on in an unrelated hearing on the topic of unaccompanied undocumented children at the border. Higgins, the subcommittee chair, postponed the vote until the end of the hearing, and it appeared to take GOP members of the panel by surprise.
“Numerous members of this committee and this subcommittee have called for answers and transparency,” Lee said. “So let’s do something about it.”
Democrats have increasingly pushed their GOP colleague to act on calls from the MAGA base to release additional information about Epstein, the deceased financier and convicted sex offender, and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
In at least one other instance, Comer has agreed to the demands for transparency. In a separate subcommittee hearing Tuesday, a GOP-led vote to compel the House Oversight Committee to subpoena Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was successful. Comer agreed and vowed his team would visit Maxwell in prison after they negotiate details with her lawyers.