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House Epstein Probe Amps Up Amid Document Reviews, Depositions
(Bloomberg) — Key House lawmakers on Monday pushed for more information on the sex-trafficking probe of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and raised the prospect of new criminal prosecutions.
Speaking outside a Justice Department office after reviewing unredacted files in the Epstein inquiry, Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna said they believed there are six men whose names have not been revealed who could face criminal charges.
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Massie said he’s willing to give Attorney General Pam Bondi more time to make their names public but signaled that he would list the names on the House floor if necessary.
“We want those things published,” Massie said.
The Justice Department has released about 3.5 million pages of emails, flight logs, photographs, videos and other documents in response to a law enacted last year.
The latest tranche of documents revealed even more details about the extent of Epstein’s network with influential business figures and financial institutions. Many of the documents released publicly are heavily redacted, but the Justice Department is allowing members of Congress to review uncensored files.
“There are very powerful people who raped these underage girls,” Khanna said. “And what we want to do is have the investigation get to those people, to answer those questions.”
Earlier in the day, Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of Epstein refused to answer any questions from a House panel investigating the disgraced financier’s activities.
Maxwell appeared virtually for a scheduled deposition but then invoked her Fifth Amendment constitutional right not to incriminate herself in testimony, said James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The panel has been investigating Epstein and what role the financier’s broad network of connections may have played in facilitating his enterprise or delaying criminal prosecution.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of recruiting girls for sexual abuse and participating in some of the assaults. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
“She answered no questions and provided no information about the men who raped and trafficked women and girls,” said Representative Robert Garcia, the panel’s top-ranking Democrat. “Who is she protecting?”
Billionaire retail tycoon Les Wexner will testify on Feb. 18, Comer said.
