The two men stonewalling Congress’ investigations into Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal network
By Camaron Stevenson, Below the Belt(way)
Ongoing congressional investigations into Jeffrey Epstein’s multi-billion dollar sex trafficking enterprise have ground to a halt. Republicans who control the inquiries have shifted their focus to unreliable witness testimony instead of the millions of documents being withheld by the Trump administration.
As chair of the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, respectively, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) wield immense power over how their committees operate. They control when hearings are held, what can be brought up for a vote, and how many resources are allocated to investigations. Both men are now using this authority to limit their committees’ investigations into Epstein as much as possible, despite broad public interest and bipartisan support among committee members.
After spending the past year failing to find an effective way to politicize Oversight’s investigation to benefit his party and hurt Democrats, Comer has now attempted to move it out of the public eye. House Democrats revealed this week that Comer had replaced formal committee hearings with roundtable discussions — a bureaucratic maneuver that prevents the committee from issuing subpoenas and doesn’t require witnesses to testify under oath.
“They’re trying to shut down investigations,” ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) told COURIER. “Democrats, over the course of the last few months, have put in place seven motions that we’ve passed through our committee — that have included 18 subpoenas for documents, for testimony, for important witnesses to come and talk about the Epstein investigation, and other important matters in front of our committee and our government. But now, Oversight Republicans are scared. They don’t want to face us in committee, and they don’t want to allow us to have motions. ”
The move comes after a series of humiliations Comer has suffered as committee chair. In February, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tore into Republicans during her deposition for compelling her to testify despite having never interacted with Epstein nor any investigation involving him. The following month, close Epstein associate Darren Indyke repeatedly lied under oath without consequence, and last week, former US Attorney General Pam Bondi outright ignored the committee’s subpoena and failed to appear for her scheduled deposition.
Democrats and Republicans on the committee had threatened to hold Bondi in contempt, but they can no longer do so after Comer removed that as an option. Instead, he soft launched a proposal to release Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell from prison in exchange for her cooperation in their investigation — although Comer immediately distanced himself from the idea after bringing it up.
“A lot of people do [want her pardoned],” Comer told POLITICO. “My committee’s split on that.”
I made my position clear: I am not open to a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the future, use my full statement.
Don’t post clickbait. https://t.co/RfflZEeZuS
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) April 22, 2026
However, the government’s own findings show that Maxwell has proven to be an unreliable witness who has shown a willingness to offer whatever narrative will secure her a more favorable outcome. Of potentially greater value to the committee are the roughly 3 million documents from the Epstein Files being withheld by the DOJ, in direct violation of a subpoena issued by Oversight in August 2025.
In the Senate, Crapo has taken a more stoic approach to stalling the investigation. The Finance Committee’s inquiry began in 2021, under then-chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Wyden made gradual progress over the years, eventually gaining temporary access from a resistant Biden administration to Epstein’s financial records at the US Treasury.
That all changed in 2025, when the White House shifted from resistant to combative. Under President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to Wyden’s request for additional records with threats. And Crapo, since taking over as chair in January 2025, has refused to support the investigation, leaving it without adequate resources or subpoena power. He has entirely abdicated responsibility, leaving it up to the House to do the heavy lifting.
“Jeffrey Epstein was a notorious sex trafficker who committed appalling crimes,” Crapo told the Idaho Statesman last October. “The House Oversight Committee is now leading an ‘investigation of the investigators’ and is the appropriate committee to uncover why Epstein was not properly investigated and prosecuted earlier.”
But Wyden, Crapo’s fellow committee member, has said he uncovered what he believes to be troves of evidence at the US Treasury linking Epstein’s financial crimes to accomplices, including more than $1 billion in transactions involving sanctioned banks and Eastern European countries where he is known to have trafficked girls and women. An ongoing investigation by COURIER has also revealed millions of dollars in suspicious transactions that banks were aware of, but allowed to continue because they profited from Epstein’s business.
In one document withheld by the Treasury but mistakenly published by the DOJ, PayPal identified 50 suspicious transactions from Epstein totaling nearly $150,000. The report noted that the “recipients of these payments were found to be predominantly women models, mainly located in Russia.” PayPal monitored the activity for two years — well aware they were red flags for money laundering and human trafficking — but didn’t report it until after Epstein’s second arrest.
COURIER’s newly-launched Epstein investigation project
For too long, the Epstein Class has dealt in wealth, power, and politics to avoid accountability and deny victims & survivors their due justice. The public deserves the truth, but the Trump Administration is failing its legal obligation to deliver it.
That’s why we’re expanding our coverage to follow the money and investigate the power players in and outside the government. With a new database by Thorian AI, we have unprecedented access and ability to navigate more than 1.2M files and we’re sharing access—and what we’re finding—with you.
Subscribe to The Cover-Up and get one concise, easy-to-read email a week that cuts through the noise with the headlines you need and the breakdowns you want.
By staying plugged in and leveraging our reporting to make your own calls-to-action louder, together, we can turn information into justice.
