FBI Director Kash Patel told Congress on Wednesday that the victims’ claims about Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking of underage girls to powerful men are not credible.
Then, a Republican lawmaker revealed the FBI possesses at least 20 names of prominent globalist figures allegedly tied to the sex trafficking operation.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-K.Y., told the House Judiciary Committee that FBI files contain witness statements and evidence identifying at least 20 people connected to Epstein, including figures from around the world at the very top of entertainment, finance, politics, and banking industries.
“These documents in FBI possession, your possession, detail at least 20 men, including Mr. Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays Bank, who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked victims to — victims including minors such as Virginia Roberts Giuffre, may she rest in peace,” Massie said.
Massie said the files include “one Hollywood producer worth a few hundred million dollars, one royal prince, one high-profile individual in the music industry, one very prominent banker, one high-profile government official, one high-profile former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician, [and] at least six billionaires, including a billionaire from Canada.”
Patel denied that this was true. The FBI director said prosecutors across multiple administrations had “investigated those same materials” and that the FBI was “not in the habit of releasing non-credible information.” He told senators Tuesday there was “no credible information, none” that Epstein trafficked any of his more than 1,000 victims to other men.
“Any investigations that arise from any credible investigation will be brought. There have been no new materials brought to me,” Patel said.
Patel blamed former Miami federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta for what he called the “Original Sin” in the Epstein case. Acosta gave Epstein federal immunity in a 2008 plea deal that Patel said has hampered FBI and Justice Department efforts to hold others accountable.
“Mr. Acosta allowed Epstein to enter — in 2008 — to plea to a non-prosecution agreement which then the courts issued mandates and protective orders legally prohibiting anyone from ever seeing that material ever again without the permission of the court,” Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. “The non-prosecution also barred future prosecutions of those involved at that time.”
Under the 2008 deal, Epstein pleaded guilty in state court to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor under 18. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence, mostly under work release that allowed him to leave prison during the day.
A 2020 Justice Department investigation concluded Acosta used “poor judgment” in resolving the case with such a lenient plea deal that gave immunity to Epstein, four co-conspirators, and an unidentified number of others.
Lead prosecutor Marie Villafaña told federal investigators in 2019 that she had drafted a 53-page indictment in 2007 accusing Epstein of sex trafficking minors that could have resulted in a life sentence. She said she pleaded with her bosses to prosecute him, but was overruled.
Eleven months of Acosta’s emails during plea negotiations vanished, covering May 2007 to April 2008, including the period around his October 12, 2007 breakfast meeting with Epstein’s lawyer Jay Lefkowitz. Federal authorities blamed the files’ mysteriously vanishing on a technical glitch.
Acosta will testify Friday before the House Oversight Committee in his first closed-door appearance since resigning as labor secretary amid renewed scrutiny of the case.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., accused Patel of covering up for powerful men during Wednesday’s hearing.
“Would you meet with the women who were sexually abused and raped and groomed at the ages of 14 and 16 years old?” Jayapal said. “Are you going to continue to cover up for the rich and powerful men, including those that might be on this committee?”
Patel denied there was any Epstein any cover-up.
“Any allegations that I’m a part of the cover-up to protect child sexual trafficking and victims of human trafficking and sexual crimes is patently and categorically false,” he said.
Patel said he was willing to examine a CIA file on Epstein “if there is such a file, and if it has not already been turned over to the FBI.”
Former Attorney General William Barr testified last month that the notion Epstein was working for intelligence was “dubious.” Barr said Epstein’s 2019 death in jail was a suicide, disputing conspiracy theories.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and was found dead in his cell a month later under mysterious circumstances. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, though Epstein’s brother, lawyers, and an independent autopsy expert said he was likely murdered.
Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021 and is serving 20 years in federal prison. She is appealing to the Supreme Court, arguing she is covered by the 2008 immunity agreement.
Prominent former Epstein associates include Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, recently fired British ambassador Peter Mandelson, Victoria’s Secret billionaire Les Wexner, and former Harvard president Larry Summers.
Trump has called continued interest in the case a Democratic “hoax” seeking to distract from his prior association with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Trump and Epstein later had a public falling out, and Epstein was banned from Trump’s resorts.