Epstein: crimes after 2005 could have been prevented, says US House committee
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on MyJoyOnline
The Republican-led US House Oversight Committee believes that Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes after 2005 could have been prevented without the failures of federal investigators and prosecutors. Its final report, published on Tuesday after 15 months of work, points to the 2007 agreement reached with the financier in Florida and attributes his death in prison to a series of institutional failures, according to MyJoyOnline.
The crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein after 2005 could have been prevented without the "failures" of federal investigators and prosecutors, the Republican-led US House Oversight Committee concludes. It published its final report on Tuesday, based on fifteen months of hearings, government files and financial records, according to the BBC, as reported by MyJoyOnline.
The report criticises the federal prosecutor’s office for the Southern District of Florida for having reached an agreement with Epstein in 2007 that allowed him to escape federal prosecution, instead of fully investigating allegations in other states. According to the committee, some errors stem from poor judgement, while others appear to be linked to Epstein’s influence.
On Epstein’s death in 2019 in a New York prison, while he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking, the committee cites "a series of institutional failures": staff shortages, overwork, poor record-keeping and lax security. The testimony gathered did not make it possible to rule out certain theories, notably concerning an interruption in surveillance footage.
The report states that the Department of Justice communicated poorly on the release of documents and that inadequate redactions exposed victims' personal data. It also accuses financial institutions such as American Express of having facilitated human trafficking and immigration fraud, through fake flights and itineraries. The BBC has approached the company. The committee recommends a law against the abusive use of non-disclosure agreements, which Epstein allegedly used to silence victims.
This report follows the conclusion, announced on Monday, in which a US congressional committee points to institutional failures in the Epstein case.
