The federal government failed for decades to stop Jeffrey Epstein as he manipulated and sexually abused young women and girls, despite growing evidence of his crimes, according to a report released Tuesday by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.
The 15-month investigation involved 19 transcribed interviews with witnesses, including some of Epstein’s most high-powered associates, and reviews of financial records, Justice Department documents and files from Epstein’s estate.
“At nearly every stage, the cases reviewed by the Committee raise troubling questions about how Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who sexually abused and trafficked young women and girls, avoided accountability for so long,” the committee’s majority wrote. Maxwell is a former socialite and convicted child sex trafficker who was among Epstein’s closest confidants.
The committee’s Republicans wrote that Epstein targeted vulnerable young women and girls, promising “career opportunities and comfort until the survivors of his crimes became completely dependent and subservient.” Along the way, those around him “seemed to have simply blindly obeyed” as he manipulated the young women.
The committee’s top Democrat, Robert Garcia, criticized the report, saying it’s “based on an incomplete investigation and zero public hearings.”
“We will not allow the President and his allies to dismiss this investigation. We intend to hold real public hearings uplifting survivors and asking tough questions of the powerful men who associated with Epstein, including Donald Trump. Our work is just getting started,” Garcia said in a statement to press.
The report concluded that a “willful ignorance” extended from Epstein’s closest employees — his longtime lawyer, accountant and personal assistant, who combined carried out the nitty gritty details of arranging daily massages and managing his “black book” of names — to Epstein’s most powerful friends, “who, in the face of numerous red flags, claimed that they never suspected Epstein was abusing women or committing crimes of any kind.”
But a willingness to allow Epstein’s behavior to continue extended to the federal government itself, they wrote.
Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida state court in 2008 to two prostitution charges, including one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under 18. The report claims that this “sweetheart deal” allowed Epstein to avoid a more sweeping federal case, and may have resulted from conflicts of interest at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, which ultimately decided against pushing federal charges.
During Epstein’s short stint in state custody, he was granted extensive work-release for what the committee called a “sham company.” During that time, he continued to abuse women, the committee wrote. Several survivors said they were abused during that time, “in his South Florida office, his Palm Beach residence, or even, in [Sarah] Kellen’s case, over video from the stockade itself.”
Epstein’s fortune was enabled by a cadre of extraordinarily wealthy and powerful clients and friends. The committee interviewed, among others, billionaires Leon Black, Bill Gates, Les Wexner and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. They all said they had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
“Some Epstein associates questioned by the Committee seemingly claimed in their testimonies that a man with connections to global political leaders, major philanthropists, titans of industry, billionaires, Hollywood celebrities, and even a British prince could not be a sex trafficker,” the committee wrote. “However, despite the repeated assertions of ignorance to Epstein’s crimes, these same associates offered inadequate explanations for their continued close association with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.”
Black recently sued the committee’s lead Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, claiming defamation and accusing Garcia of lying about Black’s relationship with Epstein.
Garcia said he intends to continue the investigation after Democrats take control of Congress in January.
“The Department of Justice continues to illegally withhold over 2.5 million pages of documents, there’s been no investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer, and Attorney General Todd Blanche has yet to testify about his role in the largest government cover-up of the modern era,” Garcia said, referring to the Justice Department’s decision to move Maxwell to a minimum-security facility days after Blanche interviewed her. At the time, Blanche was deputy attorney general. It is extraordinarily unusual for Justice Department officials with that seniority to interview inmates.
The report’s authors recommendations include encouraging the Justice Department pursue new investigations in Epstein’s circle, and that Congress pass legislation to “prevent the weaponization of nondisclosure agreements to silence survivors of sexual abuse.”
