Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is asking the Justice Department why it has declined to assist state and foreign investigations sparked by the Epstein files, suggesting an area of focus for his party should it win a House majority in November.
The Justice Department has brought no charges in relation to the millions of documents it has released from federal investigations into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but other law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad have used the material to launch probes into potential crimes and individuals within their own jurisdictions.
The Washington Post reported last month that the Justice Department had not granted requests by Polish, Norwegian, British or Latvian law enforcement agencies for evidence, information and testimony for their investigations.
Officials in New Mexico, where Epstein maintained a ranch, have sued the Justice Department, alleging that it blocked the state from accessing unredacted records. The Justice Department argued in court filings last week that providing such records would hinder law enforcement operations. On Wednesday, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez also announced a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate and its executors, alleging that they helped finance and conceal the deceased financier’s sex-trafficking operation.
Epstein, a financier who cultivated relationships with global political, business and social elites, pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor and served 13 months in jail. He was indicted in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and rearrested. He died weeks later in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.
Raskin (D-Maryland) asked Attorney General Todd Blanche and Vaughn A. Ary, the director of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, on Wednesday for all records related to requests for mutual legal assistance from foreign countries investigating Epstein’s potential co-conspirators.
In a letter to Blanche, Raskin also asked for all records related to Justice Department decisions to deny requests for information or cooperation sought by any domestic state or local enforcement entity.
Raskin says the Justice Department is refusing to investigate Epstein’s potential accomplices and blocking other jurisdictions from doing so.
“Not only is the DOJ shamefully refusing to investigate Epstein-implicated individuals with your own resources, but it is also now reportedly refusing to share key evidence with other jurisdictions that are taking criminal investigations of Epstein’s potential accomplices and co-conspirators seriously,” Raskin wrote to Blanche and Ary.
The Justice Department confirmed it received Raskin’s letter and that his request is being reviewed by appropriate personnel.
Former Justice Department officials have said the process for obtaining evidence and information through mutual legal assistance can be cumbersome and take weeks or months.
The Justice Department has not explained its refusal to grant foreign investigators mutual legal assistance. It has said New Mexico’s request is overly broad.
The New Mexico attorney general’s office welcomed Raskin’s effort to press the Justice Department on its handling of requests for evidence related to Epstein and potential co-conspirators.
“States should not have to take the federal government to court to obtain evidence needed to investigate crimes committed in their jurisdiction,” Lauren Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the New Mexico attorney general, said in a statement.
Congress voted nearly unanimously last year to require the Trump administration to release all unclassified files and records related to the federal sex-trafficking investigations of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has questioned whether the Justice Department has fully complied with the legislation.
Epstein socialized with Donald Trump from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The president has said the friendship ended around 2004; Epstein was banned from Mar-a-Lago in 2007. Law enforcement has not accused Trump of any criminal conduct in relation to Epstein, and the president has denied any wrongdoing in connection to him.
The Justice Department is not obligated to honor Raskin’s request. But House Democrats, if they regain a majority in November elections, plan to hold more hearings related to the files and would have the votes to issue subpoenas, a powerful tool for investigating the Trump administration.
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