Full Testimony Schedule And Where Things Stand: June 26, 2026
Dershowitz confirmed for July 20. Blanche for July. The committee has now interviewed sixteen witnesses. Here is the full documented record of who sat, what they said, and what’s still coming.
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The Record
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has now conducted interviews with sixteen witnesses as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the government’s handling of his case. This is the complete documented record as of June 26, 2026.
Bill Barr, former Attorney General, sat for a closed deposition on August 18, 2025. Alex Acosta, who negotiated Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, testified voluntarily on September 19, 2025, for approximately six hours.
Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted on five of six counts in December 2021 and serving a 20 year sentence, appeared virtually for a closed deposition on February 9, 2026. She invoked the Fifth Amendment more than a dozen times and refused to answer any questions. Chairman Comer called it deeply disappointing. Democrats on the committee said Maxwell’s lawyers had used the appearance to press for clemency.
Les Wexner, the billionaire retailer who was Epstein’s primary patron and who transferred power of attorney to him in 1991, testified on February 18, 2026, in a closed deposition conducted at his home in New Albany, Ohio. He was questioned for approximately six hours after the committee subpoenaed him in January. Wexner described Epstein as a conman who stole vast sums from his family and denied any knowledge of or participation in Epstein’s criminal activity. Ranking Member Robert Garcia told reporters that without Wexner’s financial support, there would have been no island, no plane, and no money to traffic women and girls.
Bill Clinton testified by video deposition on February 26, 2026. Hillary Clinton testified the following day, February 27. Both depositions were released publicly. Richard Kahn, Epstein’s accountant who managed the financial architecture of his operation for years, sat for a closed interview in March 2026. Darren Indyke, Epstein’s longtime attorney and estate executor, whose name appears on the FedEx invoices sending overnight envelopes from NYSG LLC throughout the 2002 document archive, was interviewed on March 19, 2026.
Ted Waitt, the Gateway Computer co-founder who was in a romantic relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell for several years in the early 2000s, sat for a closed, transcribed interview on April 30, 2026. His transcript was released May 13. Waitt testified he interacted with Epstein fewer than five times and found him off-putting, and said he never would have spent years with Maxwell had he known what she was doing. He acknowledged paying Maxwell $7.2 million after their relationship ended. Democrats on the committee said they found it hard to believe Waitt had no knowledge that his romantic partner was committing crimes with Epstein throughout their relationship.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Commerce Secretary, sat for a voluntary interview on May 6, 2026. He had previously said he had not seen Epstein since 2005. The committee had emails suggesting the two last met in 2012.
Tova Noel, the MCC corrections officer on duty the night Epstein died, sat for a four hour transcribed interview on May 18, 2026. Her transcript was released June 4. She denied being an unidentified figure on surveillance footage near Epstein’s cell around 10:39 p.m. the night before his body was discovered, said she did not know who that figure was, and described systemic failures at the facility including chronic understaffing and inadequate training. She said her life had been upended by threats and asked to be left alone. When asked about twelve cash deposits to her bank account beginning in 2018, she refused to identify their source but denied any connection to Epstein.
Sarah Kellen, Epstein’s personal assistant for over a decade and one of four potential co-conspirators named in his 2007 non-prosecution agreement, sat for a closed, transcribed interview on May 21, 2026. Her transcript was released June 4. Kellen testified that she was sexually and psychologically abused by Epstein for over a decade: groomed, controlled, manipulated, and gaslit until she could no longer distinguish her own thoughts from his. She said the federal government branded her a criminal in a secret deal with her own abuser without ever once speaking to her. Chairman Comer called it by far the most substantive interview the committee had conducted. During her testimony Kellen named three previously unknown individuals allegedly connected to Epstein’s abuse network, two of whom (former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai) she alleged had sexually assaulted her personally. Comer referred both allegations to the DOJ. Kellen also testified that she was on Epstein’s private plane with Bill Clinton for his trips to Asia and Africa, and said she observed Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, Ehud Barak, and Leon Black interacting with Epstein, without alleging wrongdoing by any of them.
Pam Bondi, who served as Attorney General from February through April 2026 and oversaw the DOJ’s release of more than three million pages of Epstein files under the EFTA, sat for a four hour transcribed interview on May 29, 2026. She was removed from the AG position in April after bipartisan criticism over the rollout: redactions, sequencing failures, and complaints about completeness. During her testimony she repeatedly attributed key decisions around the file release to Todd Blanche, and declined to answer questions about her conversations with the White House. Her testimony is covered in full in this previous dispatch here.
Lesley Groff, Epstein’s personal assistant of over two decades and a covered co-conspirator under the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, sat for a transcribed interview on June 9, 2026. Her transcript has not been released publicly. Chairman Comer told reporters afterward that her testimony directly prompted his decision to request Alan Dershowitz, describing questions that arose from her account and from subsequent conversations with Epstein survivors. No further detail about the substance of her testimony has been made public.
Bill Gates testified on June 10, 2026, for nearly six hours. In his opening statement he said he was introduced to Epstein through trusted individuals when Epstein was working to establish a charitable fund, and that he never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct. He said he never went to the island, the ranch, or Epstein’s Florida home, and denied spending time with Epstein socially. In February he had apologized to Gates Foundation staff for his ties to Epstein and said their relationship lasted from 2011 through 2014. After his testimony he said he supported the release of all the files and hoped his participation contributed to getting justice for the victims. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Democrat from New Mexico, said she directly asked Gates why he continued to associate with Epstein even after his 2008 conviction. She said Gates responded with one word: money. Gates also acknowledged in his opening statement that Epstein used information about his extramarital affairs to pressure him to reengage, and that Epstein was not successful.
Leon Black: The 16th Witness
Leon Black, the Apollo Global Management co-founder who paid Epstein more than $158 million over five years, sat for a closed, transcribed interview on June 26, 2026: the committee’s sixteenth witness. Before Black entered the room, Chairman Comer told reporters the interview had the potential to be the most groundbreaking deposition yet.
In his opening statement, Black said he came voluntarily to set the record straight. He denied any wrongdoing in categorical terms: he had never abused a woman, never been with an underage woman, never engaged in sex trafficking, never paid Epstein for access to women, and was never blackmailed by Epstein. He described Epstein as living a “Jekyll and Hyde” existence. “I knew Jekyll,” he said. “I didn’t know Hyde.” He said he first met Epstein in the mid-1990s when Epstein was on the board of Rockefeller University, began paying him in 2013 for bona fide tax, insurance, and estate planning advice, and said Epstein solved a significant estate problem that none of Black’s other advisors had been able to resolve. He said he did not become aware of Epstein’s ongoing criminal conduct until 2019. He said that Epstein, with hindsight, had lied to him about the tax deductibility of the fees, that what Black believed to be $95 million net was actually $158 million.
In his opening statement Black listed the network of powerful figures Epstein cultivated, naming Deepak Chopra, Thomas Barrack, Thomas Pritzker, Reid Hoffman, Kathy Ruemmler, Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Peter Thiel, and Steve Bannon, among others. The list amounts to a disclosure of who Epstein used to establish legitimacy in Black’s eyes, and it maps directly onto figures already appearing across the files.
The interview lasted approximately two hours before it broke down. Comer told reporters he had issued the two subpoenas after the first hour of the session, after Black refused to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements he holds with women. One subpoena is for all NDAs Black is party to. The second is for a deposition scheduled for July 16. Comer said the committee wants to know whether Epstein was involved in writing the NDAs, in awarding payments to the women covered by them, and what the terms of those agreements are. He said that information is vital to the investigation.
Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, called the subpoenas a premeditated political decision and said they were issued before the committee had asked a single question about Black’s legitimate payments to Epstein. Ranking Member Robert Garcia said he fully supported the subpoenas, and noted that Epstein would not have been able to commit his crimes without the support of men like Black. Senator Ron Wyden, who referred findings from a four year Senate Finance Committee investigation to the House panel earlier this month, had said publicly that Epstein appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black’s behalf, and that Black had repeatedly stonewalled his requests for answers.
Black stepped down as Apollo CEO in 2021 following an external investigation that confirmed the payments to Epstein. He has been the subject of three civil rape lawsuits, which he has denied in each instance; one was dismissed, one plaintiff withdrew, and one remains pending.
Pam Bondi
Understanding where the investigation stands now requires going back to Pam Bondi’s testimony in May. Bondi served as Attorney General from February through April 2026, overseeing the DOJ’s release of more than three million pages of Epstein files under the EFTA. She was removed from the position in April after coming under sustained criticism over the rollout: redactions, sequencing failures, and a release process that drew bipartisan complaints about completeness.
When Bondi appeared before the committee in May for a four hour transcribed interview, she repeatedly named Todd Blanche, who had by then taken over as acting Attorney General, as the person who had led the decisions around the file release. She declined to answer questions about her conversations with the White House. When pressed on specific redaction decisions she attributed them to Blanche. That pattern of attribution is what put Blanche at the center of the committee’s next phase. Comer said the primary question for Blanche is what, if any, documents are still outstanding.
What’s Coming Next
Todd Blanche is the central outstanding witness. The timing of his appearance depends on his Senate confirmation hearing schedule for the attorney general nomination, which the White House formally sent to the Senate in early June. Comer said he wants Blanche in before the committee in July. The two things are in direct tension: Blanche has every institutional incentive to delay, and the committee has every investigative reason to move fast. Acting AG Blanche said in April that the Epstein files “should not be a part of anything going forward.” That position now sits directly against what the committee’s own investigation has produced.
Alan Dershowitz is confirmed for July 20. The formal committee letter requesting his appearance was sent June 12. Dershowitz helped negotiate Epstein’s 2008 Florida plea deal, the agreement that shielded him and named co-conspirators from federal sex trafficking charges. Comer said the request arose from Groff’s testimony and conversations with Epstein survivors. Dershowitz said publicly he wants the interview videotaped, under oath, and open to the public, and that he is prepared to testify about everything, including Les Wexner. He said he has nothing to hide and has been volunteering to testify for months. He has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s crimes.
Leon Black is now subject to a second, compelled appearance by deposition on July 16. The NDAs he refused to disclose are at the center of that follow up.
Epstein and Alan Dershowitz
Still Missing
The DOJ collected roughly six million pages on Epstein. It has released about half and nobody in the federal government has explained what’s in the rest.
New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez said on June 9 that his investigators still don’t have full unredacted access. He called it an unusual and concerning breakdown in basic law enforcement cooperation between state and federal agencies. The U.S. Attorney for New Mexico said cooperation was coming but didn’t say when.
Blanche said in April the Epstein files “should not be a part of anything going forward.” The DOJ hasn’t given New Mexico its files. The Blair memo sits classified in the UK National Archives. The Downing Street Mandelson correspondence remains sealed at Scotland Yard’s request. Someone knows where the other three million pages are. July is when we find out if Congress does too.
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Sources
House Oversight Committee — Formal letter to Dershowitz, June 12, 2026. oversight.house.gov
The Hill — Comer announces Dershowitz and Blanche requests, June 10, 2026.
Washington Examiner — Dershowitz confirmed July 20, June 22, 2026.
CNBC — Black refuses NDA questions; Comer issues subpoenas, June 26, 2026. cnbc.com
CNN — House Oversight subpoenas Black for deposition and NDAs, June 26, 2026. cnn.com
NPR — Rep. Melanie Stansbury on Gates testimony; Stansbury quotes, June 10, 2026.
Associated Press — Black testimony overview; Wyden referral, June 26, 2026.
KOB 4 Investigates — Torrez on unredacted files; U.S. Attorney response, June 9–10, 2026.
KSFR / Source NM — Torrez remarks at World Without Exploitation conference, June 10, 2026.
Dispatch #7 — Full coverage of Bondi testimony, Tova Noel transcript, Lutnick.
I dont understand why those are not in jail. If common people commits a little infraction they are prosecuted with all the force and extension of the law. But those abusers, tax evasion and criminals they walk the streets, smiling, very proud of themselves.
They are hardly going to go in saying’ oh yes I abused girls and little children , I was as bad as that pervert Epstein’ it’s funny how none of these men and women ( Epstein pals) knew anything about, they went around with a old man that was surrounded by very young girls , they saw very young girls walking around naked on the island and never thought ‘ well that’s not right’ who exactly are they trying to kid certainly not us , maybe themselves , I honestly don’t understand why the hell there is no arrests , no court cases just their lying word