If any incriminating evidence against Trump existed, Barr believes former President Biden’s Justice Department would have publicized it, a source told NR.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr never saw any evidence President Donald Trump committed criminal activity during his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, Barr said Monday during a closed-door deposition with a congressional panel.
Barr, who served under Trump from 2019 to 2020, spoke with the House Oversight Committee for its investigation into deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the federal government’s records related to them.
Barr told the panel that Trump never gave him any views or instructions related to the Epstein case or his death, and said he saw no evidence suggesting Trump committed a crime, a source familiar told NR.
If any incriminating evidence against Trump existed, Barr believes former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department would have publicized it, the source said. Biden’s DOJ launched criminal prosecutions against Trump for his handling of classified documents and involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump’s relationship with Epstein was never part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s cases against Trump.
Epstein died in 2019 while sitting in a New York City jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Barr stood by his determination that Epstein committed suicide, a conclusion recently affirmed by the new Trump administration. Epstein’s death has been the subject of endless online speculation because of its timing and his ties to powerful elites. From the beginning, Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide.
The Oversight Committee launched its investigation with bipartisan support after the Trump administration’s refusal to release the federal government’s Epstein files brought renewed attention to Epstein’s crimes and Trump’s friendship with him. Trump and Epstein were friends for 15 years in the 1990s and early 2000s, but the relationship soured before Epstein was convicted of sex crimes in Florida.
Barr was cooperative throughout the closed-door interview, answering questions from Republican and Democratic staff and members, the source said. Barr had a falling out with Trump after he refused to go along with Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) said Monday that the Justice Department will begin complying with his subpoena for Epstein-related records. The agency is going to start handing over documents later this week with the necessary redactions to protect victims and seal child sexual abuse materials.
“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,” Comer stated.
“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. I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.”
Comer is seeking testimony from Epstein’s longtime accomplice, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and has issued subpoenas to several other prominent figures for testimony related to Epstein’s crimes. Comer sent subpoenas earlier this month to former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Alberto Gonzales, and Jeff Sessions. He also subpoenaed former President Bill Clinton, an associate of Epstein, and his wife, failed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Trump administration recently concluded Epstein did not use his sex trafficking operation to blackmail powerful elites. Trump’s name is reportedly in the Epstein files, but he has not been accused of any criminal activity related to Epstein.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed the importance of the files amidst MAGA backlash over the administration’s decision not to release them. He is suing the Wall Street Journal for reporting on a letter he purportedly wrote to Epstein to celebrate his 50th birthday, a story Trump has claimed to be fake.