Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are backing U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s push to press the head of the U.S. Treasury Department to release the deceased financier’s banking records, Wyden’s office announced Tuesday.
Attorneys representing a group of Epstein survivors wrote to Wyden, Oregon’s senior Democratic senator who is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and three other senators Dec. 1 to express support.
Wyden in September introduced the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act, which seeks the disclosure of documents that would not be included in the files the Department of Justice was recently required to release through separate bipartisan legislation, according to a press release.
So far, no Republican has signed on to Wyden’s bill and its path forward appears challenging.
“These records are crucial to exposing how Epstein financed a cross-border criminal organization that abused countless women and girls,” the letter on behalf of survivors said. “For far too long Epstein and his co-conspirators have been able to hide in the shadows and conceal the vast amount of wealth that fueled his decades long sex trafficking operation.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, were also included on the letter.
Wyden’s office and the Senate Finance Committee reviewed thousands of financial transactions made by Epstein in 2024, the press release said. Treasury officials did not allow them to make copies of the documents.
Wyden requested the documents be released to the finance committee for further review on two occasions but was denied by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the press release said. Wyden said the files “detail Epstein transactions totaling at least $1.5 billion dollars and include the names of women and girls he may have trafficked.”
The senator also flagged that the records point to potential money laundering violations by J.P. Morgan and other banks which may have protected Epstein.
Congress last month passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with Trump signing it into law Nov. 19 following political pressure from his own party after he first resisted those efforts. The Justice Department must release all files and communications related to Epstein, including the investigation into his death in a federal prison in 2019, by Dec. 19.
If passed, Wyden’s bill would require the Treasury Department to hand over all “suspicious activity reports” related to Epstein and any “co-conspirators” who made transactions with the late sex offender or his entities, regardless of whether those people have been indicted.
Wyden said in a statement that the additional financial records would provide a “detailed map of Epstein’s financial network,” and would shed light on those who enabled his trafficking operation.
“I’ve been investigating Epstein’s finances for more than three years, and I am routinely awestruck by the bravery of these women and their commitment to uncovering the full truth of Epstein’s crimes,” Wyden said in a statement. “It’s an honor to have their support, and I take it as a sign that we’re on the right track with this follow-the-money investigation.”
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