Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released a report Tuesday accusing the federal government of bungling its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and calling on the Justice Department to reinterview key witnesses.
The report listed Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff as an example of a witness whom the department should question further.
The Oversight Committee also urged the department to further investigate sexual assault allegations by Sarah Kellen, another longtime Epstein assistant, against a former mayor of Miami Beach and a French celebrity hairstylist.
The committee exhorted Congress to pass legislation aimed at preventing nondisclosure agreements from being weaponized to silence survivors of sexual abuse. The report adds that the Justice Department should establish a process for victims and their representatives to access the unredacted files related to their abuse.
“The federal government has failed survivors for decades,” the Oversight Committee said in a statement, adding that the crimes Epstein committed after 2005 could have been prevented if not for the failures of federal investigators and prosecutors.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) said in the statement that the recommendations are meant to ensure that “the failures of the past” are not repeated.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said in a statement: “With all due respect, the Chairman’s recommendations have already been addressed. The Attorney General has repeatedly said that the Epstein case is not closed and there is no statute of limitations on human trafficking.”
The spokesperson also said the Oversight Committee should acknowledge an overlap between victims and potential co-conspirators.
The Justice Department “will continue following all additional investigative leads in matters relating to Jeffrey Epstein,” the spokesperson said.
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