Comer Demands Bill Gates and Six Others Testify in Expanding Epstein Investigation

House Oversight Chairman James Comer escalated the congressional Epstein investigation on Tuesday by calling on seven additional witnesses to appear for transcribed interviews — including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler. The expanded witness list signals that Comer intends to pursue the investigation into the most powerful corners of American society, following last week's dramatic closed-door deposition of former President Bill Clinton — during which Clinton offered an unexpected defense of President Trump. The summons come alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's voluntary offer to testify about his own Epstein connections and a federal judge's preliminary approval of a $35 million settlement between Epstein's estate and trafficking accusers. Taken together, the developments suggest the investigation is widening rather than winding down, with Congress probing deeper into the network of elite figures who associated with the convicted sex trafficker while the question of accountability for victims remains painfully unresolved.