Republican Rep. James Comer, who will soon relinquish his position as chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee when Democrats take control of Congress, has a message for the Justice Department and his Democratic colleagues: There’s a lot more work to be done on Jeffrey Epstein.
A new 137-page report , the product of Comer’s 15-month investigation into the crimes of Epstein – the convicted child sex offender who killed himself in prison in 2019 – details what the committee describes as a network of powerful people and institutions that enabled Epstein’s abuse for decades. It faults federal prosecutors in South Florida who let him plead to lesser state charges under a 2007 non-prosecution agreement , financial institutions that missed or ignored warning signs of trafficking, and some of Epstein’s closest employees, such as ex-assistant Lesley Groff , whose testimony the committee called “not credible.”
The committee, which over the last year called in people associated with Epstein for interviews and depositions – including high-profile names such as former President Bill Clinton and business leader Bill Gates — is also urging the Justice Department to investigate several people that former Epstein assistant Sarah Kellen accused of abuse.
The report comes as mounting frustration among lawmakers in both parties and survivors has overshadowed Comer’s probe, as high-profile witnesses repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes or hid behind lawyers, yielding few significant new revelations.
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The report notably says it found no documents implicating President Donald Trump in criminal activity related to Epstein. Democrats have vowed to scrutinize Trump, who has long denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
“The federal government has failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes for decades,” Comer said Tuesday. “Epstein operated with impunity, shielded and enabled by powerful connections and a justice system that repeatedly failed his victims. Governments at every level and powerful institutions must meet their legal obligations to identify these crimes, stop perpetrators, and deliver justice for survivors.”
Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator and ex-girlfriend, is the only person to date who has been charged in the United States for crimes related to Epstein. She is currently serving time at a minimum-security prison in Texas for helping Epstein’s abuse of minors.
In Tuesday’s report, Comer called on the DOJ to “further investigate” some of the key individuals that his panel probed, including Epstein’s ex-assistant Groff. Comer’s report cited CNN’s exclusive reporting from earlier this year, in which Epstein survivors said Groff did not tell the truth to the Oversight Committee. (Survivors described to CNN meeting Groff in person, discussing with her how old they were and being directly paid by Epstein’s assistant of 18 years — all contrary to what Groff told lawmakers.)
Comer also called on the DOJ to investigate Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach, and Frédéric Fekkai, a celebrity hairstylist – both of whom were accused of sexual assault by Epstein’s former assistant, Sarah Kellen. CNN spoke exclusively with Epstein survivors who described the alleged role Fekkai’s hair salon played in Epstein’s grooming.
Among Comer’s other recommendations to the DOJ include “establish[ing] an appropriate process for Epstein survivors and their representatives to access their personal files and records in unredacted form.” While the DOJ released millions of Epstein files over the last year, survivors continue to call on the agency to release millions more still in the DOJ’s possession.
Some survivors have said they still do not have a complete accounting of what they previously shared with investigators about Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Comer’s report Tuesday once again raises questions about the controversial non-prosecution agreement that Epstein struck in 2007, through which he was able to avoid a federal indictment in exchange for a guilty plea to state charges in Florida.
Epstein was allowed to spend much of his jail time on a work release program; survivors have described to CNN abuse they encountered while Epstein was serving jail time and wearing an ankle monitor.
The House Oversight Committee will soon be led by Democratic California Rep. Robert Garcia, the panel’s current ranking member, who has vowed as chairman to examine Trump and his family as well as the Epstein files. Garcia and other Democrats have also said hearings related to Epstein should be held in public, instead of behind closed doors.
In a statement reacting to Comer’s report on Tuesday, Garcia criticized Republicans’ work as “incomplete.”
“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. “We will not allow the President and his allies to dismiss this investigation.”
The upcoming shift in political power in Washington is expected to shine a much brighter spotlight on Trump, including his past friendship with Epstein. While Trump has long denied any wrongdoing related to the pedophile, Democrats have called on greater scrutiny of that relationship. Comer in the past claimed that Trump was “exonerated” by Epstein survivors – a statement that survivors have rejected.
“The incessant targeting of President Trump by Committee Democrats throughout the investigation was a dishonest, politically motivated attempt to discredit and associate the President with crimes he did not commit,” Comer said Tuesday.
