House of Representatives calls for new Investigations into crimes of Epstein and Maxwell

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Republicans, released a report denouncing the failures of the federal government in the criminal investigations against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and calls for new measures to ensure justice for the victims.

The document, titled A Review of the Federal Government's Mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell Criminal Investigations, is the result of a 15-month investigation, which included 19 interviews and transcribed statements from key witnesses, the release of documents from the Department of Justice and Epstein's estate, as well as a review of financial records.

The report details how Epstein and Maxwell's network facilitated the recruitment, control, and abuse of young women. It also reveals how the financier cultivated relationships with powerful individuals and used those connections to build social and financial legitimacy.

"The federal government has failed the survivors of the horrific crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for decades," said the committee chairman, Republican James Comer.

The congressman argued that Epstein was able to act with impunity thanks to his connections with influential figures and a judicial system that, according to the report, repeatedly failed the victims.

The legal agreements that allowed Epstein to avoid a federal conviction

One of the document's main allegations concerns the decisions made by federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007. According to the committee, the authorities opted for a federal non-prosecution agreement rather than filing an indictment and expanding investigations into existing allegations in other states.

That agreement allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser state charges. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, was granted extensive work furloughs during his incarceration—a period during which he continued to abuse women, according to the report—and was released early.

The committee also notes that federal prosecutors did not inform the survivors about the settlement, which undermined their ability to file civil lawsuits or publicly report the crimes.

The report concludes that some of these failures stemmed from misguided decisions by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, while others may have been related to Epstein's influence and connections, including potentially two attorneys who worked in that office.

The report also notes that, following his arrest in 2019, Epstein died in custody at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in New York. According to the investigation, staffing shortages and systemic problems contributed to prison officials failing to conduct at least 12 rounds of surveillance and three inmate headcounts on the night of his death. This left Epstein and other inmates without adequate supervision for nearly eight hours.

The committee calls for an investigation into individuals linked to Epstein

Among its recommendations, the report calls on the Department of Justice to interview or re-interview key witnesses to advance the investigations and clarify potential liabilities.

In particular, it recommends expanding the investigation into Lesley Groff, Epstein's assistant, to determine what knowledge she had and what role she may have played in facilitating the financier's criminal activities.

It also calls for an investigation into the allegations of sexual assault that Sarah Kellen, a former assistant to Epstein and a survivor, made during a transcribed interview before the committee against two men: Philip Levine, former mayor of Miami Beach from 2013 to 2017, and Frédéric Fekkai, a French celebrity hairstylist.

The document further calls for establishing a procedure so that survivors and their representatives can access their personal files and uncensored records.

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Financial institutions and confidentiality agreements

The investigation also highlights the failures of U.S. and foreign financial institutions and authorities to identify signs of human trafficking and immigration fraud.

The report specifically names American Express, whose agents allowed Epstein to use decoy flights and fictitious or refundable itineraries to transport foreign women across borders to his residences.

It further argues that various financial institutions had information about Epstein's criminal history and repeatedly detected transactions that posed compliance risks, but failed to take appropriate action. In some cases, the suspicious transactions were reported years later, following Epstein's arrest in 2019.

Therefore, the committee recommends that the Department of the Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) review whether financial institutions are complying with their reporting obligations to detect suspicious activity, including money laundering and human trafficking.

Another proposal is to pass the Survivor's Voice Protection Act (H.R. 10389), sponsored by Comer, to prevent confidentiality agreements from being used to silence victims of sexual abuse or those with information about these crimes.

The initiative also aims to establish obligations for trusted individuals to report to authorities any behavior suspected of involving the recruitment or manipulation of minors (grooming), in addition to incorporating a definition of this conduct into federal law for the first time.