In about two weeks, Kentucky Rep. James Comer will be in Florida.

Not for vacation or a fundraising trip, but to depose Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of Jeffrey Epstein now at the center of a controversy that has consumed American politics.

Outrage across the political spectrum has festered, largely due to President Donald Trump and his administration’s reluctance to release the full files related to the late Epstein, a disgraced financier and sex offender. Epstein’s onetime friends included Trump, former President Bill Clinton and a litany of other powerful people.

When Maxwell herself said she would speak to the U.S. Congress, Comer’s committee members answered the call.

“I’ve been very transparent with the White House and with (House Speaker) Mike Johnson: My committee wanted it, and I try to work with my committee as much as possible. We’re not doing it to, you know, ‘get’ anybody. I think the Democrats are just hoping and praying there’s something that would embarrass Trump. We just want to get the truth. Whatever the truth is, we’re gonna get it and and put it out there,” Comer said.

Comer’s committee also voted Wednesday to subpoena the U.S. Department of Justice for all records related to the Epstein files. Subpoenas are also slated to be issued for prominent Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as former attorneys general and investigators.

So the congressman, who has represented Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District since 2016, is headed to Tallahassee to meet Maxwell at the federal prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other charges. He will be accompanied by Republicans and Democrats from his committee.

Recent reporting has led to increased speculation about Trump’s involvement with Epstein — that includes details solidifying their friendship, as well as reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump his name was included in the full files related to Epstein. The president has maintained he and Epstein were associates but had a falling out.

Comer said he doesn’t expect damaging information to come out related to the president, but his committee’s priority is the truth.

“We all support the president, and we take him at his word that he’s going to disclose what they have, but Maxwell made a statement that she wanted to talk to Congress, and that’s when my committee members stepped up,” Comer said.

Comer is not the only Kentuckian in Congress playing a key role in the story. Northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has continually pushed for the full release of the files related to Epstein, all while further stoking Trump’s anger at him.

Comer also didn’t play coy on a long-standing rumor: That he’s laying the groundwork on a run for governor in 2027.

He said he’s actively building a statewide political network.

“I think Republicans are are sick and tired of getting beat in the governor’s race in Kentucky. They’re tired of losing that governor’s race and they want someone that doesn’t have to spend a lot of time introducing themselves to the state, someone that’s got a real network,” Comer said.

The following interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.

Herald-Leader: I’m curious, what informed the call for a deposition? Obviously, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee made the motion, but where did that impulse come from?

Comer: It came to fruition over about a week period. I have 26 Republicans on my committee, counting me. Two-thirds of my committee Republicans wanted us to take the lead on Epstein, even after the president said, ‘there’s nothing there,’ and all that. They still wanted us to take the lead in this investigation because there’s so much public support and curiosity behind this whole issue. My committee wanted to vote on it, and I went to Speaker Johnson and (House Majority Whip) Steve Scalise last week, and I said, ‘If we’re in session this week, there will be a motion made by a Democrat, because (Rep.) Ro Khanna is on my committee. The Republicans on my committee will vote for it, probably amended and adding some more names.’ I gave leadership advance notice, they gave the White House advance notice. We did it, and here we are.

H-L: So the deposition is taking place Aug. 11. Is there a general timeline on when the public or your members might be able to see the product of that?

Comer: I’m gonna let some members in both parties go in for the deposition. We’ll have to go to the prison — we’ve deposed people in prison before over the last two-and-a-half years, so it’s not a new thing. We had to go during the Biden investigation to depose a couple of people that were in prison. The Democrats, they were outraged over that. Now they want to go into prison.

(A Comer spokesperson later clarified that outside counsel for Maxwell will have five days to review the deposition transcript before it’s released to the public and the timeline for Department of Justice records release is “the near future.”)

H-L: So that means you’re going to the prison yourself?

Comer: Oh yeah, of course. I’ll be there. Absolutely. I think this is the biggest political-slash-celebrity type of issue there is right now in America. I mean, this is the top thing. The Senate would have had a couple of committees that could do it, but they didn’t want to touch it. The Judiciary Committee would probably be the one that was supposed to do it. But my committee is different, they’re wired differently, and they wanted to be out front on this. And it wasn’t just the members that you would suspect it was, it was some lower-profile ones. It was two thirds of my committee.

H-L: This is kind of a weird moment for Republicans right now. A lot of the base is curious and the president and administration seems less curious about Epstein.

Comer: We all support the president, and we take him at his word that he’s going to disclose, what they have, but Maxwell made a statement that she wanted to talk to Congress, and that’s when my committee members stepped up. When she issued that statement, that’s when my phone was ringing off the hook and members were calling us to be the one she talked to.

H-L: Is there any concern on your end, given Trump is allegedly in the files, that this could steer into pretty negative territory for the president?

Comer: No. What they’ve said is, ‘There’s no list,’ but what we want from Maxwell is ‘Who was on the island?’ I mean, there may not be a list, like a file on Epstein’s island, but she would have an idea, as would some of the victims, of who all was were frequent guests on on the island. I don’t think Trump was a guest. I personally don’t think that, and he says he wasn’t. That Wall Street Journal just said he was on a list, and I took that list, from what I’ve gathered, as being a list of acquaintances with Epstein.

I’m not worried about any liability with Trump, but at the end of the day we provide oversight, and this is something the that my constituents, as well as the constituents of the Republicans on my committee, they expect us to step up here. I’ve been very transparent with the White House and with Mike Johnson: My committee wanted it, and I try to work with my committee as much as possible. We’re not doing it to, you know, ‘get’ anybody. I think the Democrats are just hoping and praying there’s something that would embarrass Trump. We just want to get the truth. Whatever the truth is, we’re gonna get it and and put it out there. If (Maxwell) implicates Republicans, the Democrats will say, ‘Yeah, she’s 100% a credible witness.’ If she implicates Democrats, they’ll say ‘She’s a terrible witness, has no credibility.’ But we’re gonna talk to her and and be transparent with the American people. And it’s not just gonna be me. For every Republican that gets to go in there, I’ll have a Democrat. It’ll be a bipartisan deposition.

H-L: On the files, there’s two ends of the spectrum. One is, ‘We should release the full files, with exceptions for things like child pornography and the worst possible stuff.’ The the other is ‘We can’t be releasing the names people who haven’t committed a crime or who don’t seem to have committed a crime because their lives might get ruined.’ Where do you fall on that spectrum?

Comer: Look, the American people want to know everything that’s out there. I think if someone’s name pops up and they just happened to be there, or were there because Epstein was a financier and they were trying to gain access to capital, I think they’ll have an opportunity to say that. This is just a situation where if you don’t release everything to the American people, then the American people are always going to be suspicious — there’s going to always be conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, that’s what you have now. Nobody knows, I don’t think Pam Bondi knows, exactly what was going on.

I think the two biggest questions the American people have, is one: Who was on the Epstein list, or, if there’s not a list, who were the main visitors to Epstein Island? The second question, and this is more from Republicans, is they want to know ‘Was the federal government involved? Were they spying on these people? Were they trying to blackmail for intelligence?’ I think it’s well known that you had people like Prince Andrew and other world dignitaries and CEOs there. There’s a conspiracy theory that maybe the U.S. intelligence community knew what was going on and they allowed it to happen, to try to gather intelligence on some of these people. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I think those are the two main questions people have. Until those questions are answered, I think there’s just going to be a lot of pressure on either Congress or the Department of Justice to answer them.

H-L: Since I’ve got you on the line, anything new to say about running for governor? Are you still thinking about it?

Comer: I think it’s pretty well known. I’m traveling the state a lot, I’m going outside the district a lot. I’m not posting very many pictures and saying who I’m meeting with, but I’m meeting with a lot of people, and I’m having a lot of prominent Republicans — local elected officials, donors, state legislators — that are calling and texting and wanting me to come by. I’m going into communities, and people are having meetings in their offices and homes and just introducing me to people to build a grassroots organization. We’ve got business leaders, party leaders, political leaders. In every county, I’ve been to Pikeville, Somerset, Corbin, London, Owensboro, Bowling Green, fixing to go to Prestonsburg and Salyersville in a few weeks, in addition to all the places in my district.

I’m listing the people, and I can tell you: In 2027, we will have had a Democrat governor for 47 out of the last 55 years in a solid Republican state. So, we’ve got a problem with the type of Republicans we nominate, I think. I think I’m in a strong position. My name ID is off the charts. I’m on TV a lot, going to be on TV a lot more over the next 45 days, especially with Epstein and the auto pen (controversy). Those are the two most-watched issues right now in Congress, so I think that I can keep my name ID up and even even grow it more.

I think Republicans are sick and tired of getting beat in the governor’s race in Kentucky. They want someone that doesn’t have to spend a lot of time introducing themselves to the state, that’s got a real network. I mean, the big challenge, and the reason the Democrats always had the advantage over the Republicans, is it’s an odd election year and the turnout is bad. I don’t think we’ve really nominated someone in my lifetime that had a tremendous statewide organization. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m traveling and we’ll make a decision soon, but things look promising in 2027.

H-L: Seems like it’s safe to assume you’re in for now, short of an announcement?

Comer: I’m running for reelection in 2026. I could make an argument that I’m as high-profile as anyone in Congress, and as long as I’m in Congress I can get things done. I worked very hard to get this public assistance (for disaster relief) passed. That was a challenge, and I’m not even going to go into detail, but you can imagine the obstacle. I was in the White House this week, and we finally got it done. The governor wasn’t the most helpful person on that, but of course he’ll take credit for it like he does everything else. At the end of the day, I’m just glad we got it, and hopefully we can continue to work together and do things for Kentucky. My focus is on being reelected to Congress, and then we’ll make a decision on the governor’s race in 2027. But I’m getting a lot of encouragement. I can tell you that.

_____

©2025 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit kentucky.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.