BERLIN — European law enforcement agencies chasing leads from the U.S. investigative files on deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein say that one year after the first batch of files was released, the Justice Department has yet to respond to their requests for help.
In the United States, no charges have resulted from the release of the Epstein files. But the documents exposed the financier’s relationships with influential people around the world — both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges — and have sparked a slew of international investigations.
Several European law enforcement officials said in interviews that DOJ has not responded to their requests for mutual legal assistance, which could permit foreign investigators to obtain evidence, information and testimony from the U.S.
Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody later that year in what officials ruled a suicide. Judges and lawmakers say that over decades, he abused, trafficked and molested women and girls, many of whom have come forward in court and in other public forums.
The Justice Department said it doesn’t comment on the status of mutual legal assistance requests with foreign law enforcement partners. Last month, a DOJ spokesperson told The Telegraph, “The department of justice has not refused to assist any jurisdiction investigating potential criminal conduct related to Jeffrey Epstein. … The department remains committed to co-operating with all jurisdictions pursuing potential crimes and will continue to do so in accordance with federal law and longstanding practice.”
Poland says it is continuing to pursue an investigation related to the Epstein files. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in February that his country would open an investigation that included a focus on possible links between Epstein and Russian intelligence.
Przemysław Nowak, a spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office of Poland, said in a statement that his office has sought, “among other things, the disclosure of unredacted documents from the so-called Epstein Files relating to any Polish aspects of the case.”
The Justice Department has not responded to Warsaw’s request in April for mutual legal assistance, Nowak said.
In Norway, three prominent figures face corruption charges related to their relationship with Epstein: former Norwegian diplomats Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul and well as former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland. All say they are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Rød-Larsen’s lawyer, John Christian Elden of the Norwegian law firm Elden Law, welcomed Norwegian law enforcement efforts to seek additional evidence from DOJ. He said Norwegian authorities had sought additional “investigative steps” at the International Peace Institute in New York, where Rød-Larsen previously served as president.
“The publication of a selectively chosen set of documents from the Epstein seizure is the basis for the investigation of my client. We are therefore very pleased that Norwegian prosecutors have requested surrender of relevant records from DOJ, and investigative steps to be taken regarding IPI in New York,” Elden said.
Marianne Bender, a state prosecutor for the Norwegian economic crimes investigations unit, known as Økokrim, said that her office is cooperating with several European countries on Epstein-related matters but that the U.S. has not fulfilled its request for information.
“We are in communication with officials from the Department of Justice, but they have not at this time approved the request,” Bender said in a statement. “This is very unfortunate for the Norwegian investigation, and Økokrim hope that the U.S. Department of Justice will approve our request at some point.”
The State Police of Latvia say they are also conducting a criminal investigation in connection with the files and have identified one Latvian victim. Simona Gravite, a spokeswoman for the state police, said investigators have “sent several requests for mutual legal assistance to the relevant authorities in the United States. However, no responses have yet been received.”
In Britain, the Times newspaper reportedin May that London had submitted a formal request to the U.S. asking for access to unredacted copies of some Epstein files. Police in February investigated Lord Peter Mandelson, a former British ambassador to the United States, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to Epstein.
The request was made after informal discussions between the Justice Department and British law enforcement did not produce the unredacted information, the Times reported. The Telegraph reported late last month that the Justice Department and the FBI had not responded to the formal request related to Mandelson, who has denied any wrongdoing.
The Crown Prosecution Service, the agency responsible for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, declined to comment.
Last September, a House committee began releasing Epstein-related files it had received from the Trump administration. Many lawmakers complained that the information was incomplete, and two months later Congress voted overwhelmingly to force the Justice Department to release all of its material on Epstein.
American lawmakers continue to press the Justice Department to be more transparent about its investigations of Epstein and his associates, saying that relevant documents are still missing and that some of the publicly disclosed material has been unnecessarily redacted.
The legal process for obtaining evidence and information through a mutual legal assistance request can be cumbersome and take weeks or months, officials say.
The DOJ office responsible for processing legal assistance requests from other countries, called the Office of International Affairs, has long faced operational challenges. A 2021 reportfrom the Justice Department’s Inspector General found that the office was hampered by high staff turnover, antiquated technology and oversize caseloads.
Samer Korkor, a white-collar defense lawyer who previously worked within DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, said, “Mutual legal assistance requests are inherently complex, and that complexity only increases in cases involving voluminous records and contested redaction issues.”
Korkor explained that requests must meet a legal threshold and that review time may be extended if the material being requested is the subject of ongoing litigation.
In Germany, federal police officials say they remain in contact with American authorities about the possibility of any crimes by Germans that may be suggested by the Epstein files.
Two Green Party lawmakers, Konstantin von Notz and Irene Mihalic, have pressed the German government to open an investigation of potential links between Epstein and German nationals. In response, the government has said the Criminal Police Office has no information regarding any criminally relevant links to Germany.
Federal criminal police have also been in touch with the FBI and requested that they involve German authorities in any cases with relevant connections to Germany, the government said.
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