The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee opened its investigation into the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case on Monday, taking closed-door testimony from former Attorney General William Barr. Barr, who led the Justice Department when Epstein died in federal custody in 2019, was the first of 10 current and former officials subpoenaed by the panel. According to people familiar with the session, Barr told lawmakers he had never seen evidence implicating President Donald Trump and reaffirmed the Justice Department’s finding that Epstein’s death was a suicide. Shortly after Barr’s deposition began, Oversight Chairman James Comer said the Justice Department had agreed to start transferring Epstein-related records to the committee on Friday. The department will miss the panel’s 19 August subpoena deadline but has promised an initial delivery while it continues to review a large volume of material and redact victims’ identities and any child-sexual-abuse content. Comer called the move "a good-faith effort" and said the committee expects additional tranches in the weeks ahead. The subpoenas seek Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell case files, communications about the 2007 non-prosecution agreement in Florida, and documents related to Epstein’s death. Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several other ex-attorneys general are scheduled for depositions later this fall as lawmakers press for a public accounting of how federal authorities managed the high-profile sex-trafficking investigation.