CNN’s Elie Honig explains what former AG Bill Barr could bring to table in Epstein testimony

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said on Monday that former Attorney General Bill Barr will be called to testify on the circumstances surrounding the death of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Barr arrived on Capitol Hill on Monday morning as part of his congressional subpoena to testify on his knowledge about the Epstein case. Honig said on “CNN News Central” that Barr may not have the “deep levels” of knowledge surrounding the Epstein case that would be useful for the House Oversight Committee.

“It’s questionable to me how much actual detail [Barr] would have about those cases,” Honig said. “He certainly would’ve been briefed by the people who were handling those cases. But I’m not sure he would have deep levels of detail that are worthwhile to Congress. The thing that they are definitely going to focus on is the death of Jeffrey Epstein in prison in 2019. When it happened, Bill Barr was the AG, the Bureau of Prisons is part of the Justice Department. Barr said publicly he was ‘appalled’ by the death of Jeffrey Epstein, he ordered an internal investigation, and then Barr’s conclusion was that it was ‘a perfect storm of screwups.’ So I think you’re going to see some questioning of Bill Barr by Congress on the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death.” (RELATED: CNN’s Elie Honig Says Pam Bondi Has ‘Mishandled’ Epstein Files ‘Egregiously’)

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Barr served as attorney general at the time of Epstein’s death on Aug. 10, 2019, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. He became entangled in investigations surrounding Epstein’s death given that the Department of Justice (DOJ) oversees the Bureau of Prisons.

Epstein’s death returned to the media spotlight after Trump’s current DOJ quietly released a memo stating that Epstein committed suicide and that he possessed no client list. The administration, particularly Attorney General Pam Bondi, received scrutiny for the conclusion after they had promised to provide full transparency regarding the files.

The disgraced financier was under psychological evaluation at the time after he attempted to commit suicide on July 23, 2019, according to a CNN timeline of Epstein’s death. On the night of his death, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, the two correctional officers on duty, did not perform the required 12 a.m., 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts and completed a form falsely saying that they did.

The DOJ charged Noel and Thomas in November 2019 with one count of “conspiring to defraud the U.S.” by “impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the MCC” and for falsifying records. The charges were later dropped against the guards after prosecutors said they had complied with their deferred prosecution agreement, which required them to admit to falsifying records, complete community service and cooperate with a Department of Justice Inspector General review.

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s brother, told “Fox & Friends” in October 2019 that Epstein’s autopsy was more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging.

Oversight Committee chairman James Comer also subpoenaed former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former Biden-era Attorney General Merrick Garland. The committee withdrew its subpoena for former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller on Monday due to his health issues.

Honig stated that the Clintons will likely not arrive on Capitol Hill for questioning and that there could be “court battles” over these congressional subpoenas.