The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday released a sharply critical report on the federal government's handling of investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
"The federal government has failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's horrific crimes for decades," Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.
The report called for the Justice Department to interview or reinterview "key witnesses" with information about Epstein's sex trafficking of young women and girls, "further investigate allegations of criminal activity involving Epstein's associates, and provide survivors with unredacted access to their records."
The report also urged Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Comer that would allow survivors of sexual abuse to speak freely about it, even if they had signed confidentiality agreements.
In addition to criticizing the federal government, the committee blasted various financial institutions for their roles in dealing with Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 in jail after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.