Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigators on 18 Aug. that he never saw evidence linking former President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities, according to committee chair James Comer. Comer said Barr, testifying behind closed doors, reported no conversations with Trump about an alleged Epstein “client list” and asserted he would have expected any damaging material about the former president to have surfaced during the 2024 campaign if it existed. Barr is the first witness in the committee’s bipartisan inquiry into federal handling of Epstein’s case. Democrats who attended part of the deposition said they left with additional questions and accused Republicans of conducting a lenient examination, while Comer dismissed the criticism as politicisation. Barr headed the Justice Department from February 2019 to December 2020 and oversaw the bureau when Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019. His appearance signals lawmakers’ widening review, which is also expected to call former attorneys general, FBI directors and other officials.