House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters in front of the House Oversight Committee at the U.S. Capitol on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images
Victims of Jeffrey Epstein will have a chance to speak about the late sex offender’s crimes at a hearing before the House committee investigating him and his procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, the committee’s chair announced Friday.
Congressman James Comer’s promise to hold such a hearing comes a day after First Lady Melania Trump called on Congress to hold “a hearing focused on the women affected by Epstein…especially survivors.”
“I agree with the first lady and appreciate what she said,” Comer, the Kentucky Republican, said in an interview on Fox News. “We will hold a public hearing.”
Comer said a hearing on Epstein’s victims will be held after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee finishes taking testimony from several high-profile individuals who had ties to Epstein and his former colleagues.
The panel will have interviews with: microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, billionaire Ted Waite, federal prison warden Tovah Noel, and others.
The committee was scheduled to remove former Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 14, but that meeting was canceled this week after the Justice Department announced it had subpoenaed her as attorney general. Democratic members of the committee are threatening to launch contempt charges against Bondi if she fails to appear at a scheduled hearing.
“It was always our plan to have a hearing with the victims,” Comer told Fox News on Friday.
“My lawyers at the Oversight Committee have been in regular contact for months with lawyers representing Epstein’s victims,” he said.
“Some victims are willing to come in. Most victims are not, and I fully understand that. However, we have always planned to hold hearings with Epstein victims once their depositions are complete.”
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel during his opening monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Many people’s surprise was echoed Thursday night when Melania Trump issued a statement about Epstein, slamming the “lies” she was being told, even though there were no obvious media reports or events that prompted her to do so.
“The lies linking me to the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” the first lady said at the White House.
Kimmel said, “How about tomorrow? I just heard about lies today.”
