The House Oversight Committee heard privately from victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said his investigation has some "additional" names to follow up with now.
"We're going to continue to bring in more people," Comer told reporters after the private meeting with victims that turned emotional for many, including rape survivor Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who said she left the meeting distraught by what she heard. "We learned of some additional names today.
"We're going to do everything we can to give the American public the transparency they seek, as well as provide accountability in memory of the victims who have already passed away, as well as those who were in the room, and many others who haven't come forward.
"So we're sincere about this."
The private committee hearing Tuesday, which Comer hailed as the largest show of bipartisanship in his time in Congress, helped Oversight members learn "of some additional names" to track down.
According to an Oversight source quoted in the New York Post, there are "persons of interest with information" that could give Americans greater transparency regarding Epstein and alleged co-conspirators.
"This was a 2 1/2-hour discussion," Comer told reporters. "It was just bipartisan as anything I've seen in the nine years I've been here.
"We're going to do everything we can and to get the answers as soon as possible."
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., plan to hold an "explosive" news conference Wednesday morning with at least two victims to come forward to share their stories about Epstein in the pursuit of accountability.
Comer has been leading the charge as chair of the Oversight Committee, while denouncing Democrats for politicizing the investigation and potentially using the victims as political pawns.
"There must be maximum transparency about the horrific crimes committed by Epstein and Maxwell," the committee's X account wrote Tuesday, sharing video of Comer's post-hearing scrum with reporters. "We will continue to follow the facts and seek justice for these survivors."
The Oversight Committee has already released some of the 34,000 pages of documents received from the DOJ and issued subpoenas to a dozen former officials, including ex-presidents, former attorneys general, and FBI leaders. So far, only former Attorney General Bill Barr has testified, while others, such as ex–Miami U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, face upcoming questioning.
"We're doing everything we can to get those uploaded," Comer told reporters. "We want those to be public as soon as possible."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., under fire from Massie for proceeding too meticulously, earned Comer's praise for freeing the Oversight Committee to take the investigation wherever it leads.
"Some of the ladies have shared these stories publicly before, but at least two of the women had never told their stories before, one for the very first time in the room, and so, there were tears in the room," Johnson told reporters.
"There was outrage. It was both — I would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating. That justice has been delayed so long.
"Some of the women in the room began to be groomed by Epstein and his accomplices, Ghislaine Maxwell and the others, 30 years ago. These brave young women, Epstein and his accomplices stole their innocence, stole their very lives in some cases, stole their hopes and dreams and aspirations and ruined them in so many ways, but they came forward courageously to share their thoughts in hopes the House Oversight Committee and that the House itself that we would do this in a bipartisan fashion and seek those answers and we will.
"Some of them began civil litigation against Epstein and the Epstein evils and everything associated with it 20 years ago. This has gone on for a long, long time, and they shared their stories."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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