The House Oversight Committee released a transcript from its first closed-door interview with former Attorney General Bill Barr in which he acknowledged the mishandling of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s detainment and pointed to other possible files.
Barr, who twice served as attorney general and led the Justice Department during President Donald Trump’s first term, was subpoenaed by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) last month. His appearance marked the first interview in a sweeping inquiry that also sought sitdowns with former President Bill Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former FBI Director James Comey.
Barr was attorney general when Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019, a death that was later deemed a suicide. Barr became directly involved in the aftermath, reviewing 11 hours of surveillance footage from Epstein’s cell block. He later concluded the video showed no evidence of foul play and backed the medical examiner’s finding of suicide.
Last week, the committee received a slew of documents from Epstein’s estate, including the 2003 “Birthday Book” that is alleged to have President Donald Trump’s signature in it.
Earlier this month, House Oversight released 33,000 pages of DOJ files on Epstein, just after Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), along with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), introduced his discharge petition to try and force a vote for the full release of the Epstein files.
- Barr acknowledges Epstein missteps
In his interview, Barr acknowledged missteps by the prison leading up to Epstein’s death and the conspiracy theories on what happened the night the convicted sex offender died.
“I can see why people would be suspicious, more than suspicious,” Barr said.
Epstein made an unmonitored call, thought to be to his girlfriend at the time, shortly before his death, which Barr acknowledged was a violation of procedures.
The month before Epstein’s death, he attempted suicide, leading to him being put on suicide watch, which he was apparently quickly taken off of without Barr’s knowledge after pressure from his lawyers. It had been recommended that Epstein have a cellmate after being taken off suicide watch, but the Metropolitan Correctional Center failed to assign one. Barr also acknowledged this was a mistake.
Another failure that is often noted surrounds the security footage taken around the time he died. Several security cameras near his cell were streaming live, but not recording.
“I mean, it made the investigation harder, obviously,” Barr said of the cameras.
Barr also pointed to an “embarrassing period” in which Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, “disappeared” and could not be located when looking for accomplices after his death.
- Barr confirms unreleased Epstein footage
Barr confirmed that searches of Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, and possibly his island and New Mexico home, had uncovered cameras and recording systems. Barr said he never saw the footage but assumed the DOJ still holds it.
“To my – whatever information was collected, I have no reason to think it’s not in their possession,” Barr said.
The DOJ did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment on whether it still has the footage or if it will be made public.
- Barr recalls two conversations with Trump
Barr testified to the committee that he was never told of any evidence that would link Trump to Epstein’s crimes, only pointing to two conversations he had with the president.
“On Epstein, I only remember two conversations I had with the president,” he said.
“One was when I heard about the suicide, I called him up and said, ‘You better brace for this,’ and I told him words to that effect, and I told him about it and told him we were going to be investigating it very vigorously,” he added.
- Barr says ‘no evidence’ Clinton traveled to Epstein’s island
The former attorney general said that there was no evidence he saw that Clinton visited Epstein’s island.
“You know, in the case of Bill Clinton, as far as I was aware, there was no evidence that he visited the island,” Barr stated. “You know, the government did not obtain any such evidence.”
Barr also addressed claims that Democratic politicians have aimed to plant Trump’s name in the documents or tried to connect him to the case, naming former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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“I don’t know the extent to which his name appears,” Barr told the committee. “I mean, I know it’s been on flight records. That’s been public. But I personally have no knowledge of, you know, any false information being fabricated on him or anyone else.”
Committee staff typically conducts transcribed interviews over several hours, with Republicans and Democrats granted extended time for questioning compared to the five-minute increments afforded to members during publicly televised hearings.
