House committee issues subpoenas for Epstein files

Published 10:06 am Tuesday, August 5, 2025

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Department of Justice on Tuesday for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, part of a congressional probe that lawmakers believe may show links to President Donald Trump and other former top officials.

The Republican-controlled committee also issued subpoenas for depositions with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.

The committee’s actions showed how even with lawmakers away from Washington on a monthlong break, interest in the Epstein files is still running high. Trump has repeatedly tried to move past the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation, but lawmakers from both parties, as well as many in the president’s political base, have refused to let it go.

Here’s the latest:

Trump says he’s checking out the new White House ballroom space

After making observations from the White House roof, Trump walked over to an area above the briefing room, briefly interacting with reporters gathered below.

Asked why he was on the roof, Trump said he was “taking a little walk” and mentioned the “ballroom on the other side.”

Last month, the White House announced that construction on a massive, new $200 million ballroom — the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948 — would begin in September. One of the five men with him appeared to be James McCrery, architect for the project.

“Just another way to spend my money for this country,” Trump said. “Anything I do is financed by me.”

Trump pops out on the roof of the West Wing

He appeared to be taking stock of several areas including the roof of the press briefing room and the Rose Garden.

Wearing a suit with a red tie, Trump walked the area Tuesday with several other people, as someone with them took photographs.

Trump may have been surveying ongoing renovation and construction work at the White House. He returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building, like paving over the Rose Garden and building a massive ballroom.