US lawmakers urge new Epstein investigations in damning report

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers called for further criminal investigations into associates of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a scathing report blaming prosecutors, financial institutions and powerful connections for allowing his abuse to continue for years.

The Epstein saga has dogged President Donald Trump, who was friends with the financier for years but has denied any knowledge of his crimes.

Accusations that Trump covered up much of the investigation triggered the first major rift with the president's support base after he returned to the White House.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee urged the Justice Department to interview or reinterview key witnesses and pursue allegations against two prominent men who associated with the disgraced financier.

Former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine and French celebrity hairstylist Frederic Fekkai both deny allegations of sexual assault – referred to federal prosecutors by the committee in June – from Epstein's longtime assistant Sarah Kellen.

The report also called for further questioning of another longtime Epstein assistant, Lesley Groff, over her possible knowledge of his crimes.

Groff maintained she had never suspected Epstein of sexually abusing women and girls – testimony the Republican investigators described as not credible.

The recommendations emerged from a 15-month congressional investigation involving testimony from prominent figures in Epstein's financial and social circle and an extensive examination of government and banking records.

"Epstein operated with impunity, shielded and enabled by powerful connections and a justice system that repeatedly failed his victims," committee chairman James Comer said.

The report concluded that Epstein's crimes after 2005 could have been prevented had federal investigators and prosecutors pursued the original allegations against him more aggressively.

Instead, prosecutors in Florida reached a controversial agreement in 2007 allowing him to escape federal charges in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser state offences.

Epstein received an 18-month jail sentence but served only 13 months, enjoying extensive work-release privileges during which he continued abusing women, according to the report.

The investigation also accused financial institutions of overlooking suspicious transactions and warning signs of human trafficking, singling out American Express.

Lawmakers urged the Treasury Department to examine whether banks were properly reporting suspicious activity linked to trafficking and money laundering.

The report also criticised the Justice Department for exposing survivors' private information during releases of Epstein files.

The Republican investigators said they had uncovered no evidence implicating Trump in Epstein's crimes and accused Democrats of politicising the inquiry.

But the committee's top Democrat, Robert Garcia, dismissed the findings as the product of an incomplete investigation that included no public hearings, accusing the Justice Department of illegally withholding "over 2.5 million pages of documents."

Democrats, who seized control of Congress in last week's midterm elections, have vowed to continue investigating Epstein's network when they assume their new powers in January.

Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence.