House Oversight Committee releases closed-door deposition transcripts from Gates and Groff in Epstein investigation

The House Oversight Committee released transcripts on Tuesday of closed-door interviews conducted in June as part of the panel’s investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The committee made public the testimony of Bill Gates and Lesley Groff, according to the committee materials summarized in a PBS NewsHour report.

Oversight Committee staff obtained and reviewed the transcripts as part of its broader effort to examine Epstein’s network and the circumstances surrounding interactions with people subpoenaed or otherwise questioned during the investigation. The committee’s release includes the interviews’ written record, reflecting questions and answers from the sessions held behind closed doors.

The Gates transcript reflects a deposition setting before the House Oversight Committee, with questions focused on the committee’s stated subject matter for the Epstein inquiry. The Groff transcript likewise reflects her interviews under oath, conducted as part of the same investigation framework described by the committee.

Oversight Committee Chairman and committee leadership have repeatedly tied the release of these materials to the committee’s authority to conduct oversight and to seek information relevant to congressional investigation. The release of deposition transcripts, rather than only summaries, allows the public to review what was asked and what answers were given, subject to any applicable redactions.

The committee’s publication of these records comes as lawmakers and outside observers continue to scrutinize the scope of the Epstein investigation and the ways testimony was collected. By releasing written transcripts from June interviews, the committee is providing additional detail into the chronology it is investigating and the information the witnesses provided.

The practical effect of the release is that it creates a public reference point for any subsequent questions related to the committee’s underlying investigation, including requests for follow-up documents, additional testimony, or other investigative steps. The transcripts also become part of the public record available to journalists, attorneys, and other stakeholders reviewing Oversight’s work.

The committee has not indicated in the PBS report that the transcript releases conclude the investigation. Additional witnesses or document requests could follow, depending on what Oversight determines is necessary to complete its review of the alleged conduct and the handling of related information. Any future releases would be subject to the committee’s decision-making on what can be published.

Separately, the witnesses’ answers are part of a congressional process distinct from criminal case proceedings. As with other congressional deposition transcripts, the released record reflects testimony given to lawmakers under the committee’s investigative authority and should be read as that procedural context, rather than as a court finding.