Republican Led House Oversight Report Faults Federal Handling of Epstein Cases, Calls for Renewed Investigations

Republican staff on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have released a report alleging that federal investigative failures, inadequate financial oversight and Jeffrey Epstein’s powerful connections allowed his abuse to continue while denying survivors accountability.

The majority staff report, titled “A Review of the Federal Government’s Mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell Criminal Investigations,” follows a 15-month committee investigation. According to the committee’s announcement, the inquiry included 19 transcribed interviews and depositions, financial records reviews, and examination of documents obtained from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate.

The report recommends additional Justice Department investigations, greater access to records for survivors, closer scrutiny of financial institutions and legislation limiting the use of nondisclosure agreements to conceal sexual abuse.

Its findings represent the conclusions of the committee’s Republican majority staff.

“The federal government has failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes for decades,” Committee Chairman James Comer said in the announcement.

The committee said its investigation examined how Epstein and Maxwell’s network recruited, controlled and abused young women, as well as how Epstein used relationships with influential people to establish financial and social legitimacy.

A central finding concerns the federal government’s handling of allegations against Epstein in the mid-2000s. The majority staff concluded that crimes he committed after 2005 could have been prevented through more effective action by federal investigators and prosecutors in South Florida and Washington, D.C.

Rather than pursue a federal indictment and fully investigate allegations involving other states, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida entered into a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2007, according to the report’s findings as summarized by the committee.

The agreement allowed Epstein to avoid federal prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser state charges. He received an 18-month jail sentence, extensive work-release privileges and early release. The committee said he continued abusing women while receiving those privileges.

The report also faults prosecutors for failing to notify survivors about the agreement, saying that failure undermined their ability to pursue civil claims or publicly expose his conduct.

Majority staff attributed some decisions to poor judgment and said others appeared connected to Epstein’s influence and relationships. The announcement also raises potential concerns involving two attorneys employed by the prosecutors’ office, without detailing the evidence underlying those concerns.

The report separately examines failures at the federal detention facility in New York where Epstein died after his 2019 arrest.

According to the committee, understaffing and systemic dysfunction contributed to correctional officers missing at least 12 rounds and three inmate counts across two shifts on the night of his death. Those failures left Epstein and other inmates without adequate supervision for nearly eight hours, the report found.

The committee also criticized the Justice Department’s handling of document disclosures following enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in 2025. Majority staff said the department communicated inadequately about releases and used deficient redactions that exposed survivors’ sensitive personal information.

To address those concerns, the report recommends establishing a process allowing survivors and their representatives to obtain their own files and records without redactions.

The majority staff also called for investigators to interview or reinterview witnesses who might provide additional information about Epstein’s activities and associates.

Among those identified is former Epstein assistant Lesley Groff. The committee recommended further questioning about her potential knowledge of, and role in facilitating, his criminal activity.

The report also urges the Justice Department to investigate sexual assault allegations that Sarah Kellen, described in the release as a longtime Epstein assistant and survivor, made during her committee interview against former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai.

Those accusations are allegations. The committee’s announcement does not include responses from either man or identify charges arising from Kellen’s claims.

Financial oversight is another focus of the report. Majority staff alleged that financial institutions possessed substantial information about Epstein’s criminal history and repeatedly identified transactions presenting heightened compliance risks, yet failed to respond adequately.

In some instances, suspicious activity was reported only years later, after Epstein’s 2019 arrest, according to the committee.

The announcement specifically alleges that American Express agents allowed Epstein to use decoy flights and refundable or dummy itineraries to move foreign women across borders to his residences. It also faults U.S. and foreign authorities for failing to identify indicators of trafficking and immigration fraud. The release does not include a response from American Express.

The committee recommended that the Treasury Department and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network review whether financial institutions are meeting obligations to report suspicious activity, including possible money laundering and human trafficking.

The report further recommends tighter scrutiny of non-prosecution agreements and stronger enforcement of federal policies intended to prevent conflicts of interest in investigations and prosecutions.

On legislation, the majority staff urged Congress to pass Comer’s proposed Survivor’s Voice Protection Act, H.R. 10389.

According to the announcement, the bill would protect the ability of survivors and witnesses to discuss sexual crimes despite nondisclosure agreements. It would also define grooming behavior in federal law and require certain trusted individuals to report suspected grooming to law enforcement.

The report concludes with a partisan dispute over the investigation’s treatment of President Donald Trump. Republican staff accused committee Democrats of prioritizing efforts to connect Trump to Epstein’s crimes.

The majority said witnesses examined by the committee did not identify Trump as participating in Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes, to their knowledge. It also said its review of records from Epstein’s estate, the U.S. Virgin Islands, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and the Justice Department did not identify documents implicating Trump in related criminal activity.

Those statements describe the majority staff’s assessment of the evidence reviewed. The announcement does not include a response from committee Democrats.

Alongside the report, the committee listed interview and deposition transcripts involving former government officials, Epstein associates, financial figures and other witnesses. Appearing in those records does not, by itself, establish involvement in criminal conduct.