The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes, working to subpoena President Donald Trump's Department of Justice for files in the case as well as hold a deposition of Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee acted just before House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home early for a monthlong break from Washington. The committee's moves are evidence of the mounting pressure for disclosure in a case that Trump has unsuccessfully urged his supporters to move past. But they were also just the start of what can be a drawn out process.

Here's what could happen next in the House inquiry as lawmakers seek answers in a case that has sparked rampant speculation since Epstein's death in 2019 and more recently caused many in the Trump administration to renege on promises for a complete accounting.

Democrats, joined by three Republicans, were able to successfully initiate the subpoena from a subcommittee just as the House was leaving Washington for its August recess. But it was just the start of negotiations over the subpoena.

The subcommittee agreed to redact the names and personal information of any victims, but besides that, their demand for information is quite broad, encompassing “un-redacted Epstein files.”

As the parameters of the subpoena are drafted, Democrats are demanding that it be fulfilled within 30 days from when it is served to Attorney General Pam Bondi. They have also proposed a list of document demands, including the prosecutorial decisions surrounding Epstein, documents related to his death, and communication from any president or executive official regarding the matter.

Ultimately, Republicans who control the committee will have more power over the scope of the subpoena, but the fact that it was approved with a strong bipartisan vote gives it some heft.

The committee chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said he told the speaker that “Republicans on the Oversight Committee were going to move to be more aggressive in trying to get transparency with the Epstein files. So, we did that, and I think that’s what the American people want.”

Comer has said that he is hoping that staff from the committee can interview Maxwell under oath on Aug. 11 at or near the federal prison in Florida where she is serving a lengthy sentence for child sex trafficking.

In a congressional deposition, the subject typically has an attorney present to help them answer — or not answer — questions while maintaining their civil rights. Subjects also have the ability to decline to answer questions if it could be used against them in a criminal case, though in this instance that might not matter because Maxwell has already been convicted of many of the things she will likely be asked about.

Maxwell has the ability to negotiate some of the terms of the deposition, and she already conducted 1 1/2 days of interviews with Justice Department officials this past week.

Democrats, however, warn that Maxwell is not to be trusted.

“We should understand that this is a very complex witness and someone that has caused great harm and not a good person to a lot of people,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, told reporters this week.

Committee Republicans also initiated a motion to subpoena a host of other people, including former President Bill Clinton, former Sen. Hillary Clinton as well as the former attorneys general dating back to Alberto Gonzales, who served under George W. Bush.

It's not clear how this sweeping list of proposed subpoenas will actually play out, but Comer has said, “We’re going to move quickly on that.”

Trump is no stranger to fighting against congressional investigations and subpoenas. And as with most subpoenas, the Justice Department can negotiate the terms of how it fulfills the subpoena. It can also make legal arguments against handing over certain information.

Joshua A. Levy, who teaches on congressional investigations at Georgetown Law School and is a partner at Levy Firestone Muse, said that the results of the subpoena “depend on whether the administration wants to work through the traditional accommodation process with the House and reach a resolution or if one or both sides becomes entrenched in its position.”

If Congress is not satisfied with Bondi's response — or if she were to refuse to hand over any information — there are several ways lawmakers can try to enforce the subpoena. However, that would require a vote to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress.

It's practically unheard of for one political party to vote to hold one of its own members in contempt of Congress, but the Epstein saga has also cut across political lines and driven a wedge in the GOP.

Ultimately, the bipartisan vote to subpoena the files showed how political pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to disclose the files. Politics, policy and the law are all bound up together in this case, and many in Congress want to see a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation.

“We can’t allow individuals, especially those at the highest level of our government, to protect child sex traffickers,” said Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., a committee member.

The Trump administration is already facing the potential for even more political tension. When Congress comes back to Washington in September, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to advance to a full House vote a bill that aims to force the public release of the Epstein files.

David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell, talks with the media outside the federal courthouse, Friday, July 25, 2025, in Tallahassee, Fla., after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., flanked by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., left, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., blames Democrats, former President Joe Biden, and Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie of Kentucky, over the Jeffrey Epstein situation, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., arrives before President Donald Trump speaks at a reception for Republican members of Congress in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference at the Drug Enforcement Administration, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Weathers was steamed when he found out he was joining the New York Yankees.

“I had had just finished up my bullpen and I get back to the house — I have like a little travel sauna,” he recalled Thursday. “I literally probably had sat on my couch for about two seconds and I got a phone call from Peter Bendix that I had been traded.”

Bendix, Miami's president of baseball operations, sent the 26-year-old left-hander to New York for four prospects on Tuesday: outfielders Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis, and infielders Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.

Weathers is the son of David Weathers, a pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1996 World Series after he was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline.

“We’ve kind of had a weird, similar paths as to how we got to New York,” Ryan Weathers said.

David was in the Dodger Stadium bullpen when he found out two minutes before the trade deadline he had been dealt to the Yankees. Manager Rene Lachemann called him on the bullpen phone and said Weathers needed to speak with general manager Dave Dombrowski.

“I went in the locker room and Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, John Burkett, Robb Nen, they said, `Hey man, good luck. You're going to win a World Series ring,' and they turned out to be prophetic,” David Weathers said.

David learned his son had been traded while watching a basketball game with wife Kelli at Loretto High School in Loretto, Tennessee, where he has coached baseball.

“One of my friends came up and said, `I think Ryan’s been traded to the Yankees.' And I said: `Well, if he has, I hadn’t heard anything about it,'" David recalled. "We laughed, and about that time my phone started ringing. It was Ryan.”

When Ryan makes his Yankees debut, they will become the fifth father-son duo for the pinstripes, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Clay and Cody Bellinger, Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., and Ron Davis and Ike Davis.

Ryan was in shock when he spoke with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.

“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for," he said.

New York’s rotation at the season's start projects to also include Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón rehab from injuries.

Weathers, 26, was 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last year in his second straight injury-shortened season. He missed time with a strained left flexor, made his season debut on May 14, then didn’t pitch for Miami between June 7 and Sept. 11 because of a left lat strain.

He was 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 16 starts in 2024, when he was sidelined by a strained left index finger.

“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year-and-a-half,” Weathers said. “I really did a dive and worked with company on figuring out how to lengthen my lat out, lengthen my back out. We really adjusted a lot of my lifting patterns. We really adjusted my mobility and my prep work, and I think my arm is reaping the benefits right now.”

Ryan grew up in big league clubhouses and remembered the Cincinnati Reds' room with Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto. He played pickle with Dusty Baker, Ramón Hernández, Eric Milton and Juan Castro.

“There’s been a lot of hours put in the Cincinnati Reds' batting cages,” Weathers said. “I just remember Pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he’d still throw me BP.”

Ryan was the seventh overall pick by San Diego in the 2008 amateur draft and made his first big league appearance against the Dodgers in the 2020 NL Division Series — among only six players to make a major league debut in the postseason. His dad's knowledge helped him during tough times.

“When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out: This is what you do with your new team. This was what you do in your day-to-day,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been doing mechanics since I was age 10.”

He has remained close with pitcher Aaron Harang, a teammate of his father who last played in 2015.

“He still texts me all the time,” Weathers said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really care about pitching. I just wanted to hit bombs in the outfield, so I didn’t really think about it.”

For David, pitching in the World Series was less nerve-racking than being in the seats at Ryan's games.

“It’s way tougher being a dad and watching your son pitch than being a pitcher,” David said. “When he pitches, man, it is just like all day, it’s like I’m pitching. I’m thinking about what I would do, how I would attack these guys.”

Notes: New York finalized its $2 million, one-year contract with right-hander Paul Blackburn.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sept. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)